Celebrating Medtronic Engineers

Ben Straus has always fostered a love for math and science.

When it came time to decide on a career track in college, he knew engineering was the overall direction he wanted to go. The next question became: what kind?

“I wanted to do engineering that makes a difference,” Straus said, reflecting on that time. He landed on pursuing a career in biomedical engineering — a field where he felt he could do the most good by giving back to people through life-changing technology.

Before he joined Medtronic, Straus spoke to alums from his college about the company. He was sold. Fast forward and Straus now works in Minnesota as a systems engineer in neuromodulation for the healthcare technology leader.

He primarily spends his days writing procedures and protocols for deep brain stimulation devices — technology that can help reduce the symptoms of many diseases, including Parkinson’s — and then puts those tests to work in a lab setting.

Straus said it’s a privilege to work on devices that are “changing lives for the better.”

Giving back

Outside of work, Straus strives to improve lives, too. He offers up tutoring services and advice to more than 250,000 followers of his TikTok account, a social media app that allows users to create and watch short-form videos.

When Straus found himself wanting to cut back on the number of videos he watched on TikTok and instead find a way to contribute content, he turned to his own desire to teach others and decided to offer up tutoring services. He built a community where users could find tutoring help, information on STEM careers, and college admissions advice – all with a bit of Straus’ humor woven in. His account bio reads, “Come for the humor, stay for the As.”

The TikTok account took off almost immediately and now boasts videos with millions of views and a tutoring community of about 40,000 followers.

Celebrating our engineers

Straus’ story of transforming lives through innovation and purpose-driven healthcare is just one of many that can be found among Medtronic engineers. The healthcare technology leader has more than 11,600 engineers and scientists that work daily to create life-transforming healthcare technology that puts people first.

During National Engineers Week (Feb. 20-26) and World Engineering Day (March 4), Medtronic celebrates its engineers making a difference in our world.

Straus said he feels lucky to have found an engineering home at Medtronic.

“I’m feeling very fulfilled,” he said.

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