From Advanced Science Research at Breck to Life-Saving Robotics: An Interview with Michael Fuad '09

Alumni Office (AO): Michael, welcome! Your career has taken you from Minnesota to Texas and now to San Francisco. Can you share some of the interesting things you've learned along the way?

Michael Fuad (MF): Absolutely. After graduating from Breck, I attended Rice University in Houston, TX, where I learned to square dance, fell in love with bikes, and met my life partner. Oh, I also earned a degree in mechanical engineering along the way. My first job was in oil and gas in Houston for two years. I worked on some very high tech drilling technologies, but it wasn't a great fit – I wanted to find a career path that would have a more positive impact on the world and society. So, I moved back to Minneapolis for two years and worked at a medical device company.

Then, my partner, Kayla, was accepted to residency in San Francisco, and we moved out here together in 2017. I spent six great years at a solar company called SunPower, working on new manufacturing technologies and even traveling to China to help install factories. Solar panels are manufactured in state of the art factories that utilize a variety of industrial robotics to maximize yield and minimize cost. 

After a while, I had that startup itch that you catch when living in San Francisco. I ended up at a small startup that focused on the robotic cleaning of cars, which unfortunately closed down just nine months after I joined—a pretty common startup story! But that led me to Remedy Robotics, where I am now.

AO: Tell us about Remedy Robotics. The work you're doing sounds incredible.

MF: We are developing a surgical robot to treat ischemic strokes caused by a clot in the brain. The current treatment is highly specialized: a neurointerventionalist uses catheters to enter the arterial system, usually through the femoral artery, and guides that catheter all the way up into the brain to mechanically remove the clot.

At Remedy Robotics we are replicating that surgery, but with the assistance of a robotic system to do the actual manipulation and movement of the catheter. The goal is to make this complex, high-stakes surgery more widely accessible. It is a pretty remarkable surgery in the first place, and it is even more impressive to conduct it robotically. The two founders, Jake and David, were Stanford grads. A Ph.D. whose thesis was on autonomous navigation of flexible robotics in the pulmonary system, and an M.A. in Business Administration who was previously a cardiac surgeon trainee in Australia. They joined forces to start Remedy Robotics in the middle of the pandemic.

AO: Your company recently accomplished a remote drive of the robot. That sounds revolutionary. Can you share more about the vision for this technology?

MF: Remedy Robotics is all about improving access to care and ensuring equal access to care. Currently, stroke treatment is only available at very large care centers, usually in big cities. But when a stroke happens, time is of the essence; if the clot isn't removed soon enough, brain tissue will die. Hours, or even minutes, could mean the difference between a full recovery and life-altering disabilities.

Our hope is that the robot can be deployed at smaller hospitals across the U.S. When a patient has a stroke, it would be much quicker for them to get to a center that has this robot. A doctor could then remote in to perform the procedure, meaning they don't have to be on site at that moment.

The recent remote drive, which was performed between two hospitals in Toronto about 20 miles apart, proved that this concept is viable. Robotics, in this case, isn't just a fancier method of surgery—it has the profound purpose of allowing life-saving surgery to take place even if the doctor isn't in the exact same location as the patient. The next steps are to apply for FDA approval and fine-tune and improve our platform. There is still much work to do, but it is really exciting to be a part of it.

AO: What initially sparked your interest in engineering?

MF: The boring answer is that I always liked math and science, and engineering is the application of those fields in the real world. On a more exciting level, I was always into building things as a kid: train sets, Legos, and especially the Lego Mindstorms system. That really sparked my interest in robotics specifically. There's something really fascinating about being able to press a button and watch a bunch of actions be carried out in a semi-autonomous motion.

AO: Did you do anything science-related at Breck that influenced your path?

MF: Yes, I did Advanced Science Research (ASR). That definitely had a big impact on my interests. I did research into harvesting algae using wastewater treatment techniques. I had a great advisor and mentor in Lois Fruen during that time. I learned a lot from her. On a side note, my younger brother, David, was part of the Robotics program at Breck, which was established after I graduated.

AO: We have a lot of students interested in engineering. What advice would you give to a student looking to pursue that field?

MF: The cool thing about engineering is that while you might not hear about it much in school, everything you see around you has been engineered. It’s a fundamental aspect of the world.

My advice is simply to be curious and ask questions. Always ask why something is the way it is, or how something works. Today, we have so much access to information that you can easily answer those questions, whether it's looking up a YouTube video or just trying to understand something by taking it apart.

I recommend getting hands-on with technology like 3D printing. As a mechanical engineer, I use 3D printers almost daily. It’s an incredible tool that lets you develop a concept, create a 3D model in software, and then build it physically. There is also great access to 3D modeling software now. OnShape is a great web-based app, and it is free to use for non-commercial applications. Being able to complete that whole chain from concept to physical creation is pretty unique and a great way to start building things. It is an exciting time as ever to enter the world of engineering and robotics!