Eric Earnst

Last month, I celebrated a significant milestone -- 10 years with Intuitive Surgical. Looking back, I’m filled with gratitude for the incredible people I’ve had the privilege to work alongside. So much of what I've accomplished, learned, and become professionally has been shaped by talented teammates, mentors, and leaders who consistently embody collaboration, humility, and a willingness to help others succeed. Over the past decade, I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing technology, tackle meaningful challenges, and continue growing both personally and professionally. What makes this journey especially rewarding is being part of a company that remains deeply committed to putting patients first. Knowing that our work ultimately contributes to improving patient outcomes gives purpose to everything we do. Ten years ago, I joined Intuitive hoping to make an impact. Looking back, I realize that the greater impact has been the one this company and its people have had on me. Here's to the next chapter and the continued opportunity to help shape the future of patient care together. #Grateful #WorkAnniversary #IntuitiveSurgical #Leadership #Innovation #Growth #Teamwork #PatientsFirst

As I get ready to celebrate the 4th of July, I reflect on what this holiday and living in the United States means to me. Being an immigrant and daughter of immigrants, my life could have been very different. Having lived in middle eastern countries where women’s rights and peace look very different, I’m grateful for my maternal grandfather’s work at the American embassy in Lebanon which afforded all of his children US citizenship. Without that, I may not have had the choice to live here, contribute to society in a meaningful way and raise daughters who will hopefully be able to do the same. Even if we find ourselves frustrated with our current environment, I hope we take time to reflect, put things in perspective and acknowledge how fortunate we are in comparison. I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July!

It feels like just yesterday that we packed our bags and made California our home. You were only starting elementary school then, and while we worried about how such a big change would affect you, you embraced your new life with remarkable courage, resilience, and grace. Through the years, you worked hard, stayed focused, and achieved so much. But what makes us proudest is that no matter how successful you became, you never lost the kind, sensitive, loving, and caring person you have always been. Today, we celebrate an incredible milestone as you graduate from University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in Computer Engineering. Seeing you reach this moment fills our hearts with immense pride and gratitude. And now, as you begin an exciting new journey in Silicon Valley⁠, we know this is only the beginning of many wonderful accomplishments to come. Watching you grow into the person you are today has been one of the greatest joys of our lives. Congratulations, Parth Pandhare! We are endlessly proud of you, and we can’t wait to see where your dreams take you next. ❤️🎓

I've been to a fair number of retirement parties, but this one hit different. Steve Colton, a friend of mine outside of work as well, shared lessons learned from his close to a quarter century of experience at Intuitive. Each story centered around the people in it, what Steve learned from them, and was laced throughout with Steve's characteristic sense of wry humor. Steve emphasized that what he valued from his career was not the product or technology, despite his critical role in testing software reliability and contributing directly to #daVinci5's impressive uptime. He valued the culture fostered by Lonnie Smith, strengthened by Gary Guthart, and incubated by every daily interaction with the thousands of coworkers aligned by a mission to improve patient outcomes. He valued the 'humanity' of the organization. As a crowd of Steve's coworkers, leaders, and fellow innovators stood to applaud him and his remarks, it felt like the room was putting an exclamation point on his message. Successful products and platforms are only a byproduct of employees with integrity, organizations that have the right priorities, and leaders who deliberately build culture. Thanks, Steve Colton for a powerful reminder of what really matters, and all the best in your retirement. You've left a lasting mark. #WeAreIntuitive #medicalrobotics #surgicalrobotics #engineering #culture #robotics

Lesson: Dev shouldn’t assume a 1:1 relationship and needs to think like a user because from their point of view, they see squares. 😂😂

Boris Foelsch, a Stony Brook electrical engineering alumnus ('86), returned to campus during Inauguration Week and connected with students, faculty and CEAS leadership. A retired Sr. Director of Hardware Engineering at Intuitive Surgical, Foelsch was a guest speaker at two of Professor Kenneth Short's classes. His day began in the ESE 381 classroom, where he spoke about his path from Stony Brook to Germany and then Silicon Valley. He also shared reflections on early-career choices, the importance of strong fundamentals in embedded systems, lessons from being a generalist, and the value of collaborative product development. In the ESE 382 course, students and faculty filled the room for his interactive presentation entitled, "Looking Back on a Career in Surgical Robotics." He highlighted key phases in his career, FPGA and HDL design, systems engineering, product development, organizational dynamics, and the broader significance, function, and the future of Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci platform. Foelsch fielded questions from students after both courses. #SBUAlumni #Engineering #StonyBrookU

I will never understand why people leave negative comments on LinkedIn. Like, how hard is it to: Say nothing.  And move on with your life? Especially when there’s genuinely nothing negative going on, no lies are being told, and you’re just trolling or ragebaiting. What for? (serious question) Never-ever in my life will I understand this. Be kind to others. ❤️ Thank you.

Hindsight is 20/20. On this day, April 17th, twenty years ago I didn't yet know joining Intuitive would be such a pivotal decision in my life. As I now reflect on the last two decades a single word comes to mind: grateful. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of a team working on meaningful products that benefit humanity. I'm grateful for the opportunities to grow and learn. I'm grateful for the opportunities to fail, brush myself off and get back up again. I'm grateful for the team, their hard work, dedication and helping me become a better leader. I'm grateful for the leaders of Intuitive, their commitment to the mission and "crew" on this ship. I'm grateful for those that have helped me and stood by me throughout the years. I'm grateful for those that have taught and continue to teach me so much. There are so many colleagues to thank but at the risk of exceeding the Linkedin post limit or forgetting someone, I'll only name my direct managers that have mentored me along the way: Greg Richmond, Rolf Hagenlocher, Pat Flanagan, Bahram Afshari, Fenglei Du, Matt Ohline, Colin Caulfield and Lou Spicciati. Thank you for all your guidance and wisdom. Thank you to all those I've had the priviledge to share this journey with. Some might say 20 years is quite a commitment to just one company in today's corporate environment. To those I would say Intuitive is a unique place where there are many others are more commited and dedicated than myself such as our CEOs: Lonnie Smith (23 years), Gary Guthart (30+ years) and Dave Rosa (30+ years). Over the years I've moved offices several times as Intuitive grew and expanded their Sunnyvale campus. Last year was the most recent; moving into a brand new 3 story 847,000 sq ft building at 950 Kifer Rd, but what is new is actually built upon the old. The address is the same as the original building when I first joined in 2006. Then the company was only ~500 people (now 17,000+). We didn't even occupy the whole original building at the time. We shared the single story space with another company. Coming full circle made me think about a quote from T.S. Eliot: We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. I now know what this place "Intuitive" is really about and how special it is, but I'm not at the end of my exploring. I've learned and grown a lot here but still feel like a beginner. There is so much more to explore professionally and personally. 20 years is a milestone but also just a moment in time, a “stone” marking just one particular “mile” on the highway of life. The journey continues. There's still so much more to do, patients to serve, problems to solve. #WeAreIntuitive

It’s been a privilege to work 40+ years in the Civil Engineering profession and especially for the last 18 years with the great people at BHC. Now onto new challenges...