Minnetronix, Inc., a St. Paul-based medical device design and manufacturing firm, recently announced that James Watts has joined the company as Director of Software Engineering.
Watts, who earned a BS and MS in Computer Science at the University of Iowa, has more than 22 years experience in the software engineering field, with a broad depth of knowledge in the medical device and defense industries. His excellence and dedication to the medical device industry is demonstrated in his many patents, awards and conference presentations.
Early in his career as a software engineer at 3M, Watts was involved in the design of numerous medical devices, including a perfusion system, arthroscopy pump and a centrifugal blood pump. He originally joined Minnetronix 14 years ago as its first software engineer, leading the company’s software effort on a highly complex perfusion system and laying the foundation for the software development process, which is still evident at the firm today.
“I’m very pleased that Jim is returning to Minnetronix to lead our talented and dedicated software team,” said Dirk Smith, Minnetronix co-founder and VP of Engineering. “We’re looking forward to leveraging Jim’s leadership and innovative style, as well as his technical excellence, to take our experienced team to an even greater performance level. We’re excited to further enhance and expand our industry-leading software development capabilities, which will greatly benefit Minnetronix clients.”
Following relocation to Saint Louis, Mo. in 1998, Watts further developed his engineering experience to include large and complex web-enabled database application designs for the Air Mobility Command while also broadening his interest and knowledge in disciplined software engineering processes and efficient project management techniques.