Mr. Smith has been involved in the biomedical engineering field for 29 years, including 21 years exclusively with circulatory support devices. He directs the Artificial Heart Program at the University Medical Center in Tucson, the most experienced artificial heart center in the world. Mr. Smith has overseen more than 16,000 patient days (44 years) with 17 different support systems in over 260 patients. He has been a principal scientist at SynCardia from its early stages, writing the FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE), conducting the clinical study, and training centers around the world. He is co-author of over 120 publications in the medical device field and has consulted for many medical device companies. Mr. Smith holds a Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a certified clinical engineer.