The Heart Pacers
Meet the Team
Our RAMP Project
Learn about the technology our team explored and the engineering challenge that shaped our work.
What We Investigated
Our product is the Medtronic Micro VR2 pacemaker, an implanted device exerting timed, low powered electric pulses of 15 μj over the battery span of 15-17 years. Pacemakers are used to regulate irregular heartbeats to keep your heart being at a safe rate.
What Made It Complicated?
Can we find alternatives to key materials used in pacemakers that are more environmentally friendly? Lithium is a critical material used to make sustainable and long lasting batteries, and pacemakers use lithium based batteries. Though lithium is shown to not be a permanent source as many innovations require this materials.
Our Work
Engineering Lifecycle Infographic
Our team investigated part of our product's engineering lifecycle and communicated what we learned through a visual infographic.
How Does Lithium Extraction Shape Lives and Landscapes?
Our research of lithium shows the different ways that lithium is not a sustainable source for both environment and the health of the people. Considering that obtaining and recycling lithiums lots of energy consumption, water usage and greenhouse gas emissions.
Meet the Engineers
Team Members
Each student brought a different engineering perspective to the team's work during RAMP.
KATHERINE BUI
I am a freshman at UML majoring in biomedical engineering, interested in product developing medical devices and prosthetics. As the RQE, I learned about product conditions, failure modes, and sustaining battery performance when conducting research on the pacemaker, providing valuable specifications and research. Focusing on lithium, though lithium is a high capacity material compatible in batteries, the extraction creates a large carbon footprint.
SOREEKA POEUNG
Hello, I am majoring in mechanical engineering, hoping to expand my opportunities and knowledge of this field. As part of researching the pacemaker, I had contributed to searching ways lithium affects the communities and different ways lithium had been extracted. Focusing on the study of lithium, we have found lithium is not sustainable source to be used and affects the environment significantly negatively.
RUBY VENG
Hello, I am majoring in electrical engineer as it’s something I want to dive deeper into. In the biomedical engineer researching of the pacemaker, I contributed to the environmental affects of recycling lithiums and how it affects aspects such as energy consumption, water usage and greenhouse gas emissions. I learned that lithium is unsustainable in the engineering aspect, regarding how much resources are used to obtain materials.
Looking Back
What We Learned
When evaluating lithium demand trends, demand continues to multiply across the years. However, the extensive carbon footprint questions where advancing technology is sustainable toward the environment. RAMP helped us understand user impacts and environmental impacts that engineering addresses, fully encompassing a cycle of addressing and solving problems with innovative solutions.
Credit & Sources
Acknowledgements & References
Recognize the people who supported our work and document the sources we used to learn about our product, lifecycle stage, and engineering topic.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Abiomed (Johnson & Johnson) and Collins RTX for providing industry guidance and important information about the engineering process. We would like to thank the RAMP community of students and teachers that supported us on our engineering pathway, and gave us a necessary jumpstart into the field.
References & Sources
- Comisión Chilena del Cobre. “Demand for Lithium Worldwide in 2024 and 2025 with Forecasts for 2026 (in 1,000 Metric Tons of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent).” Statista, 2025.
- Panorama Minero. “Lithium Demand Once Again Outpaces Supply, Reshaping the Global Mining Landscape.” Panorama Minero. panorama-minero.com
- Wetlands International Europe. “World Water Day: The Water Impacts of Lithium Extraction.” Wetlands International Europe, 2023. europe.wetlands.org
- Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. “77% of Raw Lithium Production Still Comes from Just Three Countries.” Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. benchmarkminerals.com
- Lithium Harvest. “The Lithium Mining Market.” Lithium Harves. lithiumharvest.com
- Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Inside the Little-Known Protest Lawsuit from a Powerful Lithium Mining Company.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 2025. reviewjournal.com
- U.S. Department of Energy. “Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Project Final Environmental Impact Statement.” U.S. Department of Energy, 2023. energy.gov
- Lithium Harvest. “What Is Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE)?” Lithium Harvest, 2026. lithiumharvest.com
- Persson, Ara. “Understand Lithium Mining's Environmental Impact.” CarbonChain, 2024. carbonchain.com
- Earth.Org. “Lithium and Cobalt Mining.” Earth.Org. earth.org
- Ruas, Carla. “Bolivian Communities Push Back Against Foreign-Backed Lithium Projects.” Mongabay, 2025. news.mongabay.com
- Inside Climate News. “America's Lithium Rush: Tribal Rights and the Push for Domestic Lithium.” Inside Climate News, 2026. insideclimatenews.org
- Rodriguez, Alia. “Lithium Extraction and Its Impacts on Indigenous Communities.” International Relations Review, 2023. irreview.org