James Cuevas, Owner and Principal Engineer, obtained a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1997. 

Prior to starting PMD as a full-time venture in 2005, James Cuevas worked as a senior mechanical design engineer in the fields of medical robotics, data storage (disk drive industry), and brushless DC motors.  James has always had a razor-sharp focus on mechanical design engineering throughout his career, and has found that working in various industries at the same time has proven to be an asset.

James considers himself a practical engineer, with one foot in the theoretical world, and one foot in the practical world.  It is his belief that a good design comes together as quickly and economically as possible with a good understanding of both the theoretical and the practical.  In addition, PMD is able to draw on the talents of other engineers / designers as projects require.

James has been using Solidworks on a daily basis as a mechanical design tool for over 14 years.

Key Achievements Prior to PMD

InTouch Health, Inc

As part of a design team consisting of another mechanical engineer, software engineers and electrical engineers, created the world's first "remote presence" robot, allowing doctors to be "virtually present" at hospitals where they are not physically located.  The robot has been featured extensively in the media, including the television show, "ER", "CNN Headline News", the "Today Show", and in numerous medical and general media publications and news programs.

James' primary responsibilities included the mechanical design of the robot's complex-shaped sheet metal structure, system inertia analysis / motor selection, and implementing mechanical aspects of an obstacle sensing system.

James is listed as one of the inventors on one of the first Issued US patents for the robot.

Aveox, Inc

Designed mechanical aspects of various brushless DC motors and generators for aerospace and medical applications, ranging in size from .630inches OD to 10inches OD.  Motors were designed to meet the harsh environments of medical as well as Aerospace environments.

Axsys Technologies, Inc

Designed various ultra-precision actuators for disk drive testing machines, including voice coil actuators, piezo ceramic actuators, magnetostrictive actuators, and DC torquer actuators.

While working on a team with a controls engineer and an electrical engineer, James created the mechanical design for what was believed to be the world's most accurate disk drive media testing machine actuator at the time (2001).

Computer Motion, Inc (Later Aquired by Intuitive Surgical)

Designed various components and assemblies for a minimally invasive robotic surgery system.  James also interned at Computer Motion while a student at UCSB.