Trine grad Josh Donahey lives at the intersection of healthcare and tech

By John Clampitt
Communication ’26

Josh Donahey, a 2018 Trine University biomedical engineering graduate, says the field provides “an amazing crossover between the healthcare industry and emerging technology.”

“The healthcare sector is ever-growing and ever-changing, and, I believe, the healthcare industry deserves the best technologies that we can design, develop and launch,” he said. “This is an extremely rewarding way of contributing to society.”

Josh recently began working freelance as an independent consultant after holding positions at Terumo Cardiovascular, NeuMoDx Molecular, and Blue Note Therapeutics.

“I’ve spent my career working in Design Quality Assurance and Systems Engineering,” he said. “There are many clever ideas, concepts and technologies that need to get onto the market, and we are at a major crossroads in the industry where traditional technology companies and entrepreneurs are moving into the medical device sector, without the experience needed to get through a regulatory approval to legally market their device.”

“With that approval comes many design control and risk management requirements that are often overlooked or thought of late during design and development. This market need is where I can come in and help those technologies meet the regulatory requirements and get them to market.”

One project early in his career sticks out to him.

“I contributed to the development and transfer of a new oxygen sensor and associated software for a product that can be used to impact about 1,000 lives per day,” Josh said. “This was a multi-year project with a well-scoped project plan and a significant quality and business impact.”

“I was lucky enough to work with a formidable team of engineers that I am still close with today. This made me see how enjoyable and fulfilling this career could be, and how a well-put-together team can solve problems. Even though we have all moved on from this technology, we talk positively about this project regularly.”

Josh really enjoys his current role because it allows him to work on multiple things at once.

“I am working on multiple devices at any one time, so day-to-day tasks are not ‘stale,’ ” he said. “While I have worked on exciting projects in the past, I am the type that likes to see multiple devices at the same time. This allows me to stay involved in emerging technologies while still seeing legacy devices reimagined.”

Foundations laid at Trine

Josh credits a lot of his success to his experiences at Trine.

“Looking back, engineering school is hard. One of the major benefits of completing an engineering degree is that it shows that someone can complete a difficult task, over a significant period of time,” he said. “When I was at Trine, I was lucky enough to take a Co-Operative engineering position. This reinforced my love for medical devices and made me realize that engineering school is a job.”

“I spent a significant amount of time in Trine’s world-class engineering labs and facilities and treated each day of school like a job. With my practical experience, my transition to industry was very natural.”

Josh knew from a young age that he wanted to work in the medical device industry. Once he was in high school, he determined BME was the best route to take, and Trine’s engineering track record really sold him on his college choice.

“I felt that Trine had the best track record of getting engineers the experience needed to compete for entry-level jobs,” he said. “Trine’s record (I believe at the time was about 99%) of job placement was not only a testament to the candidates that they were bringing in, but the learned, real-world applications, that engineering students could contribute immediately leaving Trine University. In addition, Trine University had the best faculty-student ratio, which I felt that I needed to be successful.”

Trine’s BME program was very new when Josh was making his college choice, and the opportunity excited him.

“During my university visits, the biomedical faculty was as excited to get the program off the ground as the students that were joining with them,” he recalled. “This gave me a lot of confidence in the program.”

Josh decided to pursue a master's degree after graduating from Trine.

“I was able to join a large medical device company and found myself immersed in the engineering aspects of the work, but felt I was lacking significantly in the management and business aspects of the job,” he said. “While I was learning from my colleagues and mentors, I felt that pursuing further education would be a great supplement to what I was learning on the job. The company I was working for provided significant education reimbursement, so it was the right time.”

In the long term, Josh wants to use his skill set to contribute to society by bringing great medical devices to the market.

“There are so many really good ideas for medical devices, especially because we are experiencing such a massive crossover between the ‘tech’ industry and medical devices. Think artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomous medical procedures, etc.,” he said. “These great ideas need to come to market as safe and effective medical devices. I plan to continue to use my skillset to contribute to the community and society by helping get these products to market. This may be in consultative roles, or by joining a team or company directly.”

He has some advice for entrepreneurial-minded engineering students.

“I challenge entrepreneurial engineering students to try to experience multiple positions early in their career. This allows engineers to develop a strong cross-functional understanding of the engineering process, and empathy for each of the functions in the workplace,” he said. “At the same time, this will challenge the engineer to experience difficult things early in their career.”

“It is also beneficial to find the engineer’s ‘niche’ in the marketplace and what the engineer enjoys the most. When the engineer finds their niche, they should find a mentor in their workplace (or elsewhere), that is a subject matter expert in that same area. Mentorships can significantly progress a career, and, oftentimes, can lead to lifelong friendships.”