Ben Goodman

Staff Mechanical Engineer @ Navier

About

I’m a mechanical engineer with a passion for building things that deepen my understanding of how the world works—and how to make it better. That mindset has shaped my career across complex, high-performance systems that demand precision, reliability, and thoughtful design. At Noah Medical, a startup developing next-generation surgical robotics, I helped evolve their surgical platform from early commercial release to one that could scale—leading key mechanical redesigns, enhancing manufacturability, and establishing in-house testing capabilities. Before that, I spent eight years at Intuitive, a global leader in robotic-assisted surgery. There I drove design and manufacturing changes across multiple platforms that boosted reliability, reduced costs, and helped bring the product to new global markets. I enjoy fast-paced, purpose-driven teams where curiosity, collaboration, and craftsmanship are valued.

Country

United States

City

San Francisco Bay Area

Industry

Medical Device

Skill

Equipment Design, Mechanism Design, GDT, Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Mechanical Testing Of Materials, Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing, Electric Motors, Vibration Testing, Verification and Validation (V&V), IEC 60601, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Welding, Autodesk Inventor, Labview, Solidworks, Matlab, C++, C, Embedded Systems

Experience

Staff Mechanical Engineer

Navier

2025-7 - Present · 1 yr 3 mos

Staff Mechanical Engineer

Noah Medical

2023-7 - 2025-5 · 1 yr 11 mos

San Francisco Bay Area

Led mechanical design improvements for the Galaxy Surgical System, helping transition the product from its first commercial release (V1) to a more scalable and reliable V2 by addressing field failures, usability issues, and manufacturability challenges Enabled surgeons to reach deeper areas of the lung faster and more reliably—without new hardware—by partnering with robotic controls engineers to refine motor torque estimation, and optimize performance through motor tuning Established in-house life testing and HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Testing) capabilities to detect early failures, validate component longevity, and inform preventative maintenance strategies on geared motors, and capital equipment Collaborated cross-functionally to redesign key subsystems—including surgical instrument docking interfaces, and cable assemblies—enhancing reliability, IPX sealing, and manufacturing yield Owned thermal architecture for surgical robotics capital equipment, defining airflow, power, and safety requirements in alignment with IEC 60601 (international safety standards), in close partnership with electrical and industrial design teams

Senior Mechanical Engineer

Intuitive

2017-12 - 2023-8 · 5 yrs 9 mos

Drove product improvements to the Da Vinci robotic surgical system through failure analysis, design and manufacturing Led cost reduction through design & manufacturing via castings, injection molding, sheet metal and thixomolding Led major design changes on surgical robotic platforms involving electromechanical subsystems, sensors, motors, actuators, gear boxes, brakes and bearings

Mechanical Engineer

Intuitive

2015-7 - 2017-12 · 2 yrs 6 mos

Reduced build time and costs by designing and developing production test fixtures including programming drivers, test scripts, data acquisition Led project design verifications including life, environmental and transit testing and regulatory documentation Enabled international market expansion by designing and executing UL testing protocols to meet regulatory requirements under tight deadlines

Exhibit Engineer

The Tech Interactive

2014-4 - 2015-7 · 1 yr 4 mos

San Jose, CA

Mechanical Engineering Contractor

Intuitive

2012-4 - 2013-12 · 1 yr 9 mos

Sunnyvale, ca

Developed automation test scripts in Matlab for surgical instrument testing Designed and fabricated test fixtures for robotic surgical devices Built prototype surgical robot base with passive manipulators Developed needle membrane puncture testing protocol on Instron System Designed and built anatomical silicone models used for instrument testing Worked with vendors to manufacture custom cabling harnesses