Mentorship that Matters: Alumnus Brian Truesdale Brings Real-World Impact to ISE's Senior Design Program

When ISE alumnus Brian Truesdale (BS General Engineering '94) mentors student teams in the Senior Design program, he’s not just guiding projects; he’s shaping how future engineers think, communicate and find purpose in their work.

Now the President and CEO of Elevate Healthcare, a Florida-based company that builds health care simulation technologies, Truesdale has spent much of his career leading businesses and mentoring future ISE engineers. His connection to the Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering runs deep, spanning decades of industry experience, multiple sponsored projects and even a second-generation ISE graduate: his son, who completed his own Senior Design project in 2019.

“I started sponsoring Senior Design projects around 2007 or 2008,” Truesdale said. “Engaging with the students and seeing the outcomes from those projects has always been incredibly valuable. Over the years, I’ve probably sponsored close to ten projects — and every one of them has been worth it.”

A few years ago, between executive roles, Truesdale reconnected with ISE to serve as a Senior Design advisor, mentoring student teams directly. His focus as a mentor, he said, isn’t just on technical expertise; it’s on leadership, teamwork and communication.

“Presentation skills are one of the biggest gaps I see in students entering the workforce,” he explained. “I spend a lot of time helping them make their presentations more like a sales pitch — concise, clear, and backed by evidence. It’s about teaching them to tell a story and make their ideas compelling.”

That storytelling mindset extends far beyond the classroom. Whether students are pitching their final project or interviewing for their first job, Truesdale believes that being able to communicate solutions is as critical as developing them.

“When students go into an interview, they’re really telling a story — how they started with a problem, how they worked as a team and how they arrived at a solution,” he said. “That’s what shows employers they already know how to do the job.”

Today, Truesdale’s teams at Elevate Healthcare are developing complex medical simulators that help train nurses, doctors and EMTs. These technologies directly save lives by reducing medical errors. His current student teams are each tackling different aspects of the same product: one from a mechanical systems perspective, and another from an electronics and software angle.

“Our mission is to make the world safer, healthier, and more productive,” Truesdale said. “These students are helping us build technology that teaches people how to save lives. Their work has real impact.”

For Truesdale, ISE’s systems-thinking foundation gives students a clear advantage in tackling such challenges.

“ISE students tend to look at problems more holistically,” he said. “The world runs on systems — and when you can think that way, you’re better prepared for the complexity that’s out there.”

That mindset is reflected in the projects his students have undertaken, including one that went on to win a national award for its innovative design. But for Truesdale, the greatest reward is seeing students discover their own potential and the moment they realize they can do work that truly matters.

Beyond mentoring, Elevate Healthcare recently partnered with the Carle Illinois College of Medicine to upgrade its simulation lab, donating state-of-the-art equipment and forming a new research collaboration focused on advancing medical simulation.

“It’s a way to give back to the university, but it’s also about showing students the kind of impact their engineering work can have on real lives,” Truesdale said.

And while Truesdale now calls Florida home, his ties to Illinois remain strong. He continues to serve on the ISE Alumni Advisory Board and plans to return to campus soon to both to celebrate the Carle partnership and to continue mentoring the next generation of systems thinkers.

“It’s great to connect those two missions — helping students gain real-world experience while their work is making a real-world impact,” he said.

Related Links