Title: Founder, Owner, President and Expert Systems Engineer
Company: System Optimization Specialists LLC
Location: Hawthorne, New York, United States
Mike Celentano, Founder, Owner, President and Expert Systems Engineer at System Optimization Specialists LLC, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Engineers for dedication, achievements and leadership in Systems Engineering in Healthcare Consulting.
Mr. Celentano’s distinguished career spans nearly four decades in the engineering and medical technology sectors. Since 2024, he has led System Optimization Specialists LLC, a consulting firm he established to help organizations advance their systems engineering expertise. Although he retired from daily operations in 2024, Mr. Celentano continues to consult with clients in the medical device industry. His work focuses on developing organizational standards, designing training curricula and establishing competency frameworks for systems engineers. Notably, a recent engagement with a surgical robotics company resulted in the successful enhancement of their systems engineering processes.
Widely recognized for his expertise as a multidisciplinary systems engineer, Mr. Celentano integrates software, electrical, and mechanical engineering with chemistry and biology to deliver comprehensive solutions for companies developing regulated medical devices. His consulting practice emerged from a desire to offer broader support than was possible within corporate constraints. After more than 35 years of institutionalizing best practices in systems engineering at major corporations, Mr. Celentano founded System Optimization Specialists LLC to provide independent guidance, particularly to organizations navigating research and development challenges.
Before launching his own firm, Mr. Celentano served as a senior director and chief systems engineer at Lilly USA, LLC, from 2019 to 2024, during which he contributed his extensive knowledge of systems engineering to the pharmaceutical sector. Before this role, he held several positions at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. between 1999 and 2019. Beginning as a systems engineer, Mr. Celentano transitioned to becoming a R&D manager in 2003, program manager of technologies in 2011 and principal systems engineer from 2018 to 2019.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Celentano was an engineering manager at United Medical Manufacturing from 1998 to 1999, having held the same position at Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation between 1995 and 1998. He began his professional journey in 1987 helping to develop large clinical analyzers for hospital at Technicon in Tarrytown, New York (later bought by Bayer and later by Siemens). There he started as an electro-optical engineer, then took to a role as quality engineer, and eventually transferred to Elkhart, Indiana to work as a quality system engineer at Miles Laboratories (part of Bayer at that time). These initial positions allowed him to collaborate across disciplines, which sparked his enduring passion for systems engineering.
Mr. Celentano’s foundation includes a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, New York, earned in 1988. In 2017, after decades of contribution to the Systems Engineering discipline, he qualified to become an Expert Systems Engineering Professional (ESEP) through INCOSE (the International Council on Systems Engineering). This is a testament to his advanced expertise in integrating complex technical domains for optimal outcomes.
Mr. Celentano’s influence extends through active involvement with professional organizations such as INCOSE, where he served as the technical director from 2017 to 2019 and was on the board of directors for several years. He also has collaborated with universities on research, lectures, and student projects including MIT, Purdue University, Indiana University, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Throughout his career, Mr. Celentano has achieved significant milestones that set him apart within his field. Among his most meaningful accomplishments was the founding of the Healthcare Working Group within INCOSE around 2008. Recognizing a lack of focus on healthcare within the organization at that time, he initiated the group to unite professionals interested in advancing systems engineering for the global medical community. The Healthcare Working Group continues to thrive today under new leadership and hosts an annual conference that draws international participation. Additionally, Mr. Celentano holds over a dozen global patents related to medical devices and inventions developed during his tenure with various employers.
Beyond his professional pursuits, Mr. Celentano is an accomplished musician and composer under Chell-n-Tano and Mike Celentano, publishing music on Spotify and producing LPs and CDs. His creative projects reflect the same blend of science and art that inspires his work as an engineer.
Mr. Celentano’s contributions have been recognized with several service awards from INCOSE. He attributes his success to several core principles, which include a disciplined approach that prioritizes understanding problems before seeking solutions and an ability to foster consensus among teams. Mr. Celentano believes that effective systems engineers must invest time in understanding all stakeholders’ needs and gain agreement on the root causes of system challenges before comparing potential system solutions for implementation.
Mr. Celentano enjoys inventing new technologies such as energy harvesting devices and innovative audio solutions. But his professional vision remains focused on making systems engineering a standard practice throughout the medical device industry, a goal he pursues by influencing regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the European Commission toward harmonizing international standards with medical device regulations.
Among other goals, Mr. Celentano plans to increase his volunteer activities while continuing consulting engagements aimed at strengthening systems engineering practices within healthcare organizations. He also intends to develop new patents annually, participate in cooking competitions and release more albums, demonstrating a lifelong commitment both to innovation and personal growth.
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