Here Are Our Speakers

Arif Subhan, MS, CCE, FACCE, AAMIF is the Chief Biomedical Engineer at VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Arif is a VA TCF Preceptor for clinical engineers/BMETs, an Adjunct Professor, Biomedical Engineering at University of Connecticut. Arif has three decades of clinical engineering experience in both public and private sector and has worked at several university hospitals. He is nationally recognized as a resource and educator on codes, standards, accreditation, quality assurance, safety, clinical engineering education and certification. He is a frequent author and speaker at local, national, and international venues. Arif was the Senior Clinical Engineer for a national Independent Service Organization that managed medical equipment across the United States, and Chief Biomedical Engineer at VA Nebraska and VA South Texas. He has served on the ACCE Board for more than a decade in various leadership roles. In 2013, he received the ACCE Professional Development/ Managerial Excellence Award. In 2012, he received the AAMI Leadership Award and in 2022, he received the ACCE Tom O’Dea Advocacy Award.

I w served in the US Navy as an Electronics Technician and cross trained into Aviation Electronics. I have worked on aircraft avionics, navigation, and fire control equipment. I serviced the fire control radar systems on the F/A-18 Hornets. I worked as a simulator technician on the F-111E/F & EF-111A Aardvark, and the TH-53A & MH-53J Jolly Green Giant simulators. I started my biomed career at Mercy Medical Center Merced, Merced, Ca and have worked as a biomed since then. I am/was certified on the Respironics BiPAP Vision & V-60’s, the Draeger Evita XL, Gambro Prismaflex dialysis machines, Philips MX series monitors, MX-40 telemetry devices, and PIIC & PIICiX patient monitoring systems.

Katherine Navarro is a Biomedical Engineer with the VHA Office of Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) where she supports the Biomedical Engineering field in the VA from a national level. Katherine has been with the VA in the Healthcare Technology Management field for sixteen years. She began her career in the VA at the Central Texas Veterans Healthcare System in Temple, Texas as a trainee in the VA’s Technical Career Field (TCF) Biomedical Engineering program. Upon completion of the TCF program, Katherine moved to San Antonio, Texas and was a Biomedical Engineer at the South Texas Veterans Healthcare System for approximately ten years, supporting the Biomedical Engineering department as a project manager for new medical equipment implementations. In 2020, Katherine began her new role for the Office of HTM, working virtually from San Antonio.

Katherine earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2009. She has also earned professional certification in federal program/project management and is a Certified Clinical Engineer. Katherine has been involved in leadership positions in the American College of Clinical Engineers (ACCE) since 2017 and has been nominated to serve as President of ACCE for 2025 – 2026, and in 2023 she was recognized by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) as the AAMI Young Professional of the Year.

With over 44 years in the HTM field Paul Kelley, CBET, AAMIF recently retired as the Director of Biomedical Engineering and the Green Initiative from Washington Hospital in Fremont CA. He is still active in the Healthcare Technology Management field, including AAMI and ISO standards committees, and the Right to Repair movement.
He has written many HTM articles and texts, and presented on numerous occasions including several conference keynote addresses. He has been awarded many honors, including CMIA Professional of the Year, and Life Member, AAMI BMET of the Year, ACCE Professional Achievement in Management/ Managerial Excellence Award, and has been profiled in several magazine articles. He served on the Board of Directors for CMIA and AAMI and was the first HTM representative for the Joint Commission Patient Safety Advisory Group.
His Environmental Sustainability journey started when he was appointed to start and lead the Washington Hospital Green Initiatives and their Green Team in 2008.
He attended the first ever Hospital Sustainability Coordinator Training in October of 2008. Under his 15-year leadership, Washington Hospital’s sustainability programs have had many successes and been awarded many honors.
He has always been interested in reducing waste, and prefers to reuse and repurpose things. In 2017 he was appointed by the Mayor to the City of Fremont’s Environmental Sustainability Commission, where he is currently Chair.
He also serves on the AAMI Sustainability Standards Committee, where they are developing environmentally focused standards for medical equipment.

Rick is a Product Manager for Pronk Technologies. He is a graduate of the US Army Medical Equipment and Optical school. He is Certified by the ICC as a Certified Biomedical Equipment Technician, and Certified Healthcare Technology Manager. Rick works with the engineering team at Pronk doing new product development and testing. Rick is also responsible for the sales of Pronk products in the areas of Northern California, Oregon, Northern Nevada, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Prior to joining Pronk he worked in various roles in the Biomedical Electronics field including Field Service Tech, In-House BMET, BMET Supervisor, Clinical Engineering Manager, and Regional Director of Clinical Engineering for a Health System.

Sheena Yap Chan is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, keynote speaker, strategist, and award-winning podcaster renowned for her expertise in elevating leadership and self-confidence through media. She is the founder and host of the acclaimed podcast, The Tao of Self-Confidence, where she interviews women about their journeys to self-confidence. With over one million downloads, her podcast ranks among the top 0.5% most popular shows globally and features over 800 interviews, including conversations with celebrities and eight-figure CEOs. Sheena’s influence extends beyond podcasting. Her debut book, The Tao of Self-Confidence: A Guide to Moving Beyond Trauma and Awakening the Leader Within, published by Wiley, is a Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestseller. It is also recognized as one of the top 20 best self-confidence books of all time by Book Authority, the world’s leading site for book recommendations. Her second book, Bridging the Confidence Gap, also published by Wiley, continues her mission of empowering women by addressing the barriers to confidence and leadership. Her work has been featured on prominent platforms such as MindValley, FOX, NBC News, and the Manila Times. Sheena is dedicated to closing the gender confidence gap through her training and programs, aiming to elevate women into leadership roles across all industries. She has delivered impactful speeches for organizations like Live Nation, NASA, and UKG, sharing her insights on self-confidence and leadership.