Pacific Consultants Welcomes Three New Hires; Valley's Premier Product Design and Consulting Firm Adds Medical Expertise to Innovative Staff.

Business Editors

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 2001

Pacific Consultants LLC (PCLLC), a fully integrated product engineering and analysis firm that provides contract product development services to high technology clientele, announces its three most recent staff additions. David Forster will serve as the new Director of Mechanical Engineering, Margaret Toy will assume the role of Director of Medical Electronics, and Charles Goodman, M.D., will be the Senior Contractor for software engineering.

"We are very pleased to have such talent aboard," says Brett Herscher, founder and President of Pacific Consultants. "Forster, Toy and Goodman possess exceptional skills within their respective fields, and this will surely augment the growth and success of our pursuits in the growing medical device industry," adds Herscher. He notes that the U.S. Government spends 12% of its GDP on medical research and development, "which is more than the annual amount spent in the combined sectors of wireless/telecommunications and semiconductors."

David Forster has been involved with numerous product launches for several medical device groups. As Engineering Program Manager with Prolifix Medical, Mr. Forster was responsible for developing over 60% of the company's product line of rotationary atherectomy catheters, used to debulk coronary restenosis and de-novo coronary disease. With Heartport, Inc., where he served as Advanced Research Manager, Mr. Forster was responsible for Advanced Port-Access CABG Research and Development, which revolutionized cardiac surgery with closed-chest procedures and devices for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CPBG). Other experience includes an Engineering Management position with Origin Medsystems, where Mr. Forster shared involvement in the development and launch of several innovative medical capital equipment devices, which are used in minimally invasive laparoscopic surgical procedures. Mr. Forster received his BA in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State University.

Margaret Toy joins Pacific Consultants as the new Director of Medical Electronics with a broad medical background, including an Associate Management consultant position with the CDC Healthcare Group, where she assisted in the development of a product commercialization strategy for an underdeveloped drug with rheumatoid arthritis applications. Ms. Toy served as Healthcare Administrator for the Guardian Healthcare Group and Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services, where she was responsible for the facilities and legal compliance therein. Ms. Toy received her BA in Social Science with a Health Care Emphasis from the University of California at Berkeley, and went on to receive her MBA from Santa Clara University.

Charles Goodman, M.D. boasts both hardware and software capabilities, with an extensive background in C/C++ programming. Dr. Goodman's experience includes design and production work for a standalone microcontroller-run digital audio system that "speaks" to customers when alerted by motion sensor, for use in consumer electronics showrooms. In 1988, Dr. Goodman founded ACT, a computer hardware and software manufacturing business specializing in motherboard designs with PC-related or embedded processors. As VP of software engineering for Classic Technology, he designed and expanded the multi-user operating system for IMB-PC/ATs and clones. A licensed practitioner in the State of California and Province of Ontario, Dr. Goodman managed a medical practice in Los Angeles for over 20 years. Dr. Goodman studied medicine at the University of Toronto following his BS in Theoretical Physics.