Thomas H. Briggs, Ph.D.

Technical Director, R&D Software Baxter Healthcare — Front Line Care Division · Frederick, MD (Eastern)

thomas.h.briggs6@gmail.com · LinkedIn · tbriggs6.com

Summary

Director-level individual contributor with cross-portfolio technical authority in a matrix model. Since 2021 I have worked inside Baxter's Front Line Care division (~$1B software portfolio: patient monitoring, vision screening, intelligent diagnostics, diagnostic cardiology, connected systems) on the same problem I have pursued for thirty years: helping an organization adopt a capability it does not yet fully trust, without breaking quality, regulatory confidence, or delivery.

The through-line is adoption at inflection points — early Linux on campus, statewide library infrastructure, ABET-accredited engineering programs from zero, and now regulated medical device software at portfolio scale.

Current Role — 2021 to Present

What I am doing now

Portfolio platform strategy (in flight). Harmonizing architecture, shared components, security, devops, product management, hardware, quality, and regulatory patterns across FLC. The economic bet is familiar: shared capability should change the cost structure of every future product, not just the next release. Rollout is active — early products are proving the model; portfolio-wide compounding is the work in progress.
AI-assisted and agentic engineering (in flight). Driving adoption of autonomous coding tools inside IEC 62304 design controls and FDA submission workflows. The constraint has shifted from generation to verification; the organizational work is building workflows that keep pace. Directional evidence: automated testing and static analysis adoption measurably accelerated across the portfolio, and evidence generation kept pace with a 510(k) submission cycle rather than lagging it — the concrete test of whether the workflow change is working.
Division methodology. Agile and SAFe adoption integrated with design controls; harmonized tooling, automated testing, SAST/DAST, and traceability practices that teams can actually sustain.

How leadership shows up: I lead engineering — how it thinks, how it builds, how it handles change. Not through a headcount, but through doctrine, architecture, and the willingness to challenge what the organization accepts as given. I help engineers and cross-functional partners see problems differently, adopt approaches they had not considered, and get through decisions that felt blocked.

Results to Date

These are delivered outcomes — distinct from the platform and AI transformation work still underway.

Connex 360 Vital Signs Monitor — Software Lead and architect through 510(k) submission. Architected the product's cybersecurity approach, resulting in 3 patent-pending inventions: Trusted Platform Module integration, offline role-based access control via YubiKey devices provisioned from corporate ADCS with X.509 certificates, and power management innovations for fielded medical devices. Shifted the team to Agile; introduced TDD, test automation, and Polarion for requirements traceability.

Regulatory path innovation — Separated regulatory submission software from market-release software on Connex 360, enabling a Letter to File pathway instead of a new 510(k) for post-submission features — cutting approximately one year from the development cycle.

Quality direction on platform-track products — Established a baseline as standard practice where the harmonized toolchain is in place: 90% code coverage, zero security findings, minimal code smell through automated gates — evidence during work, not documentation after the fact.

Prior Career

Professor of Computer Science & Engineering — Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, 2002–2021. Founded the School of Engineering and developed four engineering degree programs. Led ABET accreditation for Computer Engineering — the first ABET-accreditable engineering programs at any PASSHE university. Taught 41 courses; directed 30+ undergraduate research projects; published in AI, semantic web, and engineering pedagogy; secured $200K+ in grants.

Enterprise and infrastructure roles — Shippensburg University, 1993–2002. Managed statewide integrated library platform (14 universities, Pennsylvania State Archives). Developed WebAdmin, later adopted into Endeavor's commercial Voyager product (KLN Award for Excellence, 2000). Architected enrollment management data warehouse; developed machine learning models for targeted admissions and retention.

Education

Ph.D., Computer Science — University of Maryland, Baltimore County (2008)

M.S., Computer Science — Shippensburg University (2001)