# S5E14 Ian McEachern | Artificial Hearts, Times Square LED Displays, & Engineering Freelancing

- Show: [Being an Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer)
- Published: 2024-04-05
- Length: 49m
- Episode: 14
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-05-s5e14-ian-mceachern-artificial-hearts-times-square-led-displays-engineering-free
- Listen: https://teampipeline.us/ian-mceachern-artificial-hearts/

## Summary

Ian McEachern, an R&D engineer with over 15 years of experience designing artificial hearts and blood pumps, discusses the unique challenges of medical device development and the importance of persistence in engineering. He shares a detailed story about Thoratec’s HeartMate II pump, illustrating how initial failures led to incremental improvements and eventual success. McEachern also defines R&D engineering as 'world building' and highlights the shift from manual sourcing to online platforms like Xometry and Protolabs for rapid prototyping.

## Chapters

- [0:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-05-s5e14-ian-mceachern-artificial-hearts-times-square-led-displays-engineering-free#t=5) Introduction and R&D Definition
- [0:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-05-s5e14-ian-mceachern-artificial-hearts-times-square-led-displays-engineering-free#t=5) Medical Device Standards and Sourcing Challenges
- [0:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-05-s5e14-ian-mceachern-artificial-hearts-times-square-led-displays-engineering-free#t=5) R&D as World Building and Prototyping Evolution
- [16:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-05-s5e14-ian-mceachern-artificial-hearts-times-square-led-displays-engineering-free#t=989) The HeartMate II Failure and Iteration Story
- [17:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-05-s5e14-ian-mceachern-artificial-hearts-times-square-led-displays-engineering-free#t=1035) Grandfather’s Legacy and Engineering Motivation
- [35:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-05-s5e14-ian-mceachern-artificial-hearts-times-square-led-displays-engineering-free#t=2132) Teaching R&D and Perpetual Motion Machines
- [41:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-05-s5e14-ian-mceachern-artificial-hearts-times-square-led-displays-engineering-free#t=2515) Engineering Culture and Mentorship

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Medical & health devices](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/medical-devices)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- Thoratec (company)
- Medtronic (company)
- HeartMate II (product)
- HeartMate III (product)
- Aerojet (company)
- Xometry (company)
- Protolabs (company)
- Chamfer (company)
- SolidWorks (tool)
- Martin Marietta (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [IDology #7 - Tips on outsourcing R&D and product design work](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/idology/2023-01-31-idology-7-tips-on-outsourcing-r-d-and-product-design-work) (IDology)
- [1: Start Tinkering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2013-05-16-1-start-tinkering) (Embedded.fm)
- [486: If I Had $300, I Could Do That Too](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2025-06-16-486-if-i-had-300-i-could-do-that-too) (Making It)
- [422: Fumble My Way Through It](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2023-12-08-422-fumble-my-way-through-it) (Making It)
- [023 - "The Best is Yet to Come" with David Albert](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/lets-combinate/2022-03-09-023-the-best-is-yet-to-come-with-david-albert) (Let's Combinate)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-05-s5e14-ian-mceachern-artificial-hearts-times-square-led-displays-engineering-free. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Being an Engineer.