About Us

Jack brings more than 30 years of experience in the medical device industry, most of those in the cardiovascular space. Prior to joining CIRCA, he was the VP of Cardiovascular Commercial Office at Medtronic, where he led the strategic and commercial activities of Medtronic’s cardiovascular portfolio across the U.S. to provide, identify, and pursue opportunities for value creation, business development, and market expansion. Previously he held roles as President and CEO of Svelte Medical Systems, a venture funded company where he raised a $175M in funding to support the developed and commercialized bioresorbable coated drug-eluting stents. Prior to Svelte, Jack held roles as the business unit head of Bayer Interventional and Global VP of Sales and Marketing at AGA Medical where he was part of a successful exit to St. Jude for $1.1B. For 15 years he was at Cordis, a Johnson & Johnson company and held roles as: VP of Commercial Operations and Global Stent Marketing, Executive Director of U.S. Sales, Director of Cordis Marketing Japan (based in Tokyo), and several other commercial positions. Prior to his business career he was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. Jack received a BA from the University of Michigan with additional course work in finance and marketing at Stanford and the University of Michigan.

Mr. Geist has over 30 years of progressive experience in innovation, product development, manufacturing, quality assurance, and business management, with particular focus in single patient use medical devices. By combining individual effort and effective business team leadership, he has achieved outstanding results throughout his career at CIRCA Scientific, Summit Access, GE Healthcare, Vital Signs, and Marquest Medical Products. He has over 20 combined issued and pending patents on anesthesia, respiratory, vascular access, biopsy, temperature monitoring and “sharps” safety devices.

Mr. Smith has over 35 years of cardiac device experience with both large multi-national corporations (Baxter, Johnson & Johnson) and multiple start-up companies (Cardima, CryoCath, ProRhythm, and CIRCA Scientific). Mr. Smith’s experience includes 30 years of international sales and marketing expertise fostered as an expatriate in Europe with Baxter Healthcare. In addition to his years in Germany, he has built several global sales and marketing organizations, with specific experience in bringing innovative cardiac devices to market.

Mr. Smith has additional experience in key functional areas including regulatory and clinical affairs. He has built and maintains relationships with cardiovascular thought leaders on several continents.

Mr. Willenbrink has nearly a decade of experience in the medical device industry covering research and development, manufacturing and program management. With experience including endoscopes, neurostimulators, and cardiovascular implants, his expertise is in the design, development and regulatory testing of innovative products.

Mr. Piazza is Quality Assurance Manager for CIRCA Scientific. Prior to joining CIRCA Scientific, Mr. Piazza has worked in the area of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs for 15+ years for various medical device manufacturers (Gambro USA, Vital Signs Inc., and Marquest Medical Products). His experience with medical devices encompasses quality control, design, and testing. Mr. Piazza has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Valparaiso University and has achieved Quality Engineer and Quality Auditor ASQ certifications.