Richard G. Smith has been involved in the biomedical engineering field for 45 years, including 37 years exclusively with circulatory support devices, as the director of the Artificial Heart and Perfusion Program at Banner University Medical Center-Tucson. His experience includes over 30 different support systems in greater than 1000 patients with TAH, VAD, temporary and ECMO. His involvement with SynCardia began with writing the FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE), conducting the clinical study that resulted in the Premarket Approval (PMA), training TAH centers around the world, and being a co-founder. He is co-author on over 150 publications in the medical device field, and has consulted for many medical device companies. He holds a masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a certified clinical engineer.