Events for February 10, 2026

Tom Coughlin, President, (http://www.tomcoughlin.com/) will talk about the history and developments of hard disk drives and magnetic tape with comments on competitive technologies and what we can expect in the future for these technologies. I will also talk about the growing use of non-volatile memories, particularly magnetic random access memory, MRAM, and how this technology could become a dominant memory technology for embedded and standalone applications, enabling lower power applications in many industries. Speaker(s): , Tom Agenda: 6:30 – 7:00 Socializing and Networking at Quadrant 6:55 Zoom session will be online with Waiting Room 7:00 – 7:45 Lecture begins, online and in person 7:45 – 8:00 Questions and Answers 1120 Ringwood Ct., San Jose, California, United States, 95131, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/531748

This is a hybrid in-person and online event. Pre-registration is required for either. What does it take to engineer a system that must run nonstop for years, without failure, inside the most hostile environment imaginable—the human body? In this talk, Ian Coll McEachern shares lessons from two decades designing Class III medical devices, surgical robotics, and most notably, contributing to the architecture and development of an artificial heart. Instead of focusing on any single invention, this talk reveals the methodology behind navigating extreme technical risk when dozens of tightly coupled subsystems must evolve simultaneously. Ian will walk through a practical framework for managing complexity: identifying unknowns early, building parallel test beds, using simulation to reduce risk before fabrication, and validating assumptions through rapid physical prototyping. Attendees will see how constraints—size, power, fluids, mechanics, biocompatibility, and reliability—become a forcing function for innovation rather than a barrier, and how disciplined iteration beats brute force engineering every single time. While rooted in life-critical medical devices, these principles apply far beyond healthcare. Whether designing robotics, storage hardware, automation systems, or high-reliability consumer products, this presentation will present a field-tested roadmap for tackling daunting engineering challenges, orchestrating cross-domain complexity, and building systems that must not fail. Speaker(s): Ian Coll McEachern 925 Thompson Place, Sunnyvale, California, United States, 94085, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/518440