Management Team
Bill Olson, Chief Executive Officer
Bill is a seasoned executive with more than 15 years of experience providing operational leadership to growing medtech companies from concept through commercialization. Prior to ACT, Bill served as CEO of Satient Ventures, a life-science strategic advisory firm based in Menlo Park, CA, where he guided medical device companies in the areas of marketing, business development, and corporate strategy. Previously, Bill served as the CEO of Sawtooth Labs (now Avinger, Inc), a company that he co-founded with Dr. John Simpson. Prior to this, Bill worked as VP of corporate development at FoxHollow and was responsible for all merger & acquisition activity, partnerships and collaborations, and strategic planning. FoxHollow was sold to ev3 in 2007 for approximately $800MM and was subsequently acquired by Covidien in 2010. Bill's broad experience includes direct sales for Guidant's Cardiac Rhythm Management division, strategy and operations consulting with Deloitte Consulting, and six sigma project management at GE Medical Systems. Bill holds a MBA from Harvard Business School and undergraduate degrees from Boston College in Computer Science, Information Systems, and Operations Management where he graduated summa cum laude.
Eric Kanowsky, Chief Operating Officer
Eric has been involved in numerous entrepreneurial activities over the last twenty years, most recently serving as advisor, director, and/or investor for numerous early stage technology and medical device ventures, including Smartreceipt, Truevision Systems, and SupplySolution (now Tradebeam). Previously he was a co-founder and Vice-President of Operations at Software.com, Inc. (now Openwave Systems), where he was directly responsible for managing multiple technical organizations, facilities and infrastructure departments, and a $10 million capital and expense budget. Eric has also served on the Board of Directors of the UC Santa Barbara Center for Entrepreneurship and Engineering Management. He holds an MBA from Indiana University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Miriam Taimisto, Vice President, Research & Development
Miriam has more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry having worked in both start-up and large organizations. Miriam holds over 30 US patents, has four publications, and brings a world of experience related to diagnostic and therapeutic devices. Prior to joining ACT, Miriam served as Senior Vice President of R&D and Operations at Aragon Surgical, Inc. In previous roles, Miriam served as Vice President of R&D at BÂRRX Medical and Vice President at Cierra, Inc. Miriam also spent 7 years as Director of R&D at Boston Scientific, Electrophysiology where she successfully introduced six new products to US and OUS markets. Her industry experience also includes various engineering roles at Baxter, Guidant, and CardioGenesis. Miriam has a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Wisconsin.
Darren Spencer, Director, Sales and Clinical Affairs
Darren has 17 years experience within medicine and the device industry and joined ACT in early 2011 to lead all pre clinical, clinical and commercial efforts. Prior to this he has worked in Europe with Medtronic and has been a major part of various medical device start up companies. These companies include Atritech, Ablation Frontiers, Endocardial Solutions and Cameron Health. Darren has held positions involving US, European and worldwide distribution management and possesses various accolades as a testament to his achievements. Darren also holds an MSCT in cardiology gained during his time spent in clinical practice at Glenfield Hospital, UK.