Alternative Careers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Biomedical Engineering, Valencia, California Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA 

I have been working in the field of implantable medical technology since 1969. It was my first job out of school, and I am still in that same job. In March 1969,1 went to work for a prolific individual named Alfred Mann, who was starting a pacemaker company. Each implantable device led to another. Over a dozen companies were initiated since that time, and the process has not stopped yet. 

Madhavan et al. (eds.), Career Development in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-76495-5 15, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008 

A major change (improvement ) in all implantable devices over time is reduction in size, (i.e., miniaturization), and addition of complexity in function. We went from 11 transistor pacemakers in 1973 to multi-thousand and probably many million transistor gates in modern pacemakers. 

The pacemakers might last about ten years until the primary battery wears down (or until a rechargeable pacemaker has outlasted its patient), but in two to three years all pacemaker models always become obsolete with regard to new sales, and we need to make better, smaller, reliable, and more functional pacemakers to stay ahead of our competitors. 

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