Minnetronix - Medical Device Design & Manufacturing

Dirk Smith has 25 years of experience working in the medical device field in technical leadership as well as product and business development. He is inventor on seven patents and the author and presenter of several papers on biological signal processing and medical systems.

Throughout his career, Dirk has worked on numerous medical devices and instruments including infusion pumps, blood flow meters, optical sensors, oxygen saturation and hematocrit monitors, and coagulation management systems. He also has significant experience with U.S. and international product safety and regulatory issues.

Dirk is one of the founders of Minnetronix along with Rich Nazarian and Jonathan Pierce. He started as Director of Engineering and then served nearly ten years as VP of Business Development. He now acts as Chief Technical Officer and Chief Human Resource Offier for Minnetronix. Dirk graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Jonathan Pierce has over 20 years experience in medical and industrial device development and 15 years in business and operations management. He has been responsible for system design and integration for numerous medical and industrial products including traffic control systems, blood gas monitors, heart-lung machines, and other surgical devices. He also has substantial experience in embedded systems platform integration and EMC validation. 

Jonathan is one of the founders of Minnetronix along with Rich Nazarian and Dirk Smith. He began as the Director of Operations and served as CFO/COO until February 2008. He now serves as VP of Corporate Affairs for Minnetronix. He graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and also holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Jeremy Maniak brings nearly 15 years of experience in electrical engineering and directing research and development efforts. He is named inventor on ten patents, combined issued and filed.

Prior to joining Minnetronix, he was VP of Research at Leptos Biomedical where he led clinical and preclinical efforts to develop neuromodulation therapy for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. His experience also includes working as a Principal Engineer and Senior Manager in R&D at Guidant Corporation/Boston Scientific in developing implantable devices that treat cardiac dysrhythmias and heart failure.

Previous to his role as COO, Jeremy served as VP of New Ventures and Engineering, and Director of Advanced Development for Minnetronix. Jeremy received a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Minnesota, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

Phil Ankeny brings over 25 years experience in finance, IT, marketing, and management within various medical device, technology, venture capital and invesment banking firms.  

Ankeny most recently served as CFO and interim CEO of SurModics, Inc., a publicly held medical technology firm in Eden Prairie, Minn. Prior to SurModics, he was CFO of Internet startup Cognicity. Ankeny’s experience also includes venture capital, having served as a partner at Sherpa Partners; investment banking at Roberston Stephens and Morgan Stanley; and other management roles at Shiva and IBM.

His unique experience and background includes effective planning and use of capital as well as knowledge of capital markets, operations, investor relations, licensing, and contract matters for publicly traded medical technology companies.

Ankeny earned his MBA from Harvard and his undergraduate degree in Engineering and Economics from Dartmouth.

Stan Crossett has over 25 years ofexperience in the design and development of medical and industrial systems. He is the principal designer on various devices from miniaturized high-density tape drives to blood characterization instruments. He is also the co-inventor on a patent for telemetry systems in implantable devices.

Prior to his current role as VP of Manufacturing, Stan led the engineering group for eight years at Minnetronix. Stan graduated from the University of Minnesota with Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering.

Steve Strong has over 20 years of experience in quality assurance and regulatory affairs in the development of electronic products for the medical device industry. For the past 17 years he has managed quality systems and product verification/validation activities for the development and manufacturing of medical devices.

He has extensive experience with product safety and EMC testing and has served on various committees for international standards development and product safety standards. He is the author of numerous articles and presenter on topics including CE marking of medical devices, corrective action/preventive action (CAPA), and the 510(k) and PMA processes.

Steve serves as the VP of Quality and Regulatory Affairs after serving for five years as Director of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs at Minnetronix. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and also holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.

Mike brings over 15 years of experience in sales and successfully managing sales growth strategy, new market penetration and customer acquisition within the medical device industry.

His background includes a diverse range of leadership and management roles for various medical device organizations including Medtronic, Boston Scientific and Beltone Hearing. His expertise also includes entrepreneurship as the founder of VendorClear, a web-enabled vendor access program for health care systems and facilities. Mike earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Marist College in New York and an MBA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

As Director of Human Resources, Diane is responsible for talent management, benefits, compensation, retention, employee engagement, performance management and HR analytics. 

Diane has over 15 years experience in human resource management. Prior to joining Minnetronix, she served as the Director of Human Resources at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts where she oversaw recruitment, benefits, affirmative action, and the intern and volunteer programs. Diane was a member of the Ordway Center management team and with the collective bargaining agreement with IATSE Union.

Diane is active with the local community where she volunteers with the Minnesota Resource Center as an employment counselor; and with PRISM agency’s food shelf.

Diane earned her executive MBA from the University of St. Thomas, and her Bachelor degree in English from the University of Minnesota.

Lisa Lenz brings over 15 years of finance experience in creation and execution of business strategies and providing financial, compliance and risk management.

She has held positions in a variety of areas including operations finance, financial planning, analysis and corporate accounting. The bulk of her career has been spent at manufacturing companies, serving a wide range of industries including industrial equipment, transportation, photography and defense systems. She most recently worked at Thermo King Corporation, a unit of Ingersoll Rand, Inc., as the Minneapolis Plant and Warehouse Controller.

Lisa earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).