Brian Beard, Deputy Director of the Division of Biomedical Physics at the FDA, is interviewed by David Zierler. Beard recounts his childhood in Pennsylvania Dutch country and describes his early interest in robots and science fiction. He discusses his education at the Air Force Academy, where he double majored in electrical engineering and physics, and his service as a pilot in the Vietnam War. Beard describes his work as an F4 flight instructor at MacDill AFB, as a senior electronics engineer at Eglin AFB, and as technical director at Fort Walton Beach. He discusses his research in millimeter wave radars and activity monitor microprocessors, and his work for the White Sands Missile Range. Beard explains his decision to leave the Air Force and pursue a Ph.D. at Vanderbilt in biomedical engineering. He describes his work in signal processing and electrical aspects of biomedical devices, and he explains the findings in his dissertation measuring post-operative left ventricular function using non-imaging radionuclide techniques. Beard discusses the events leading to his job offer at the FDA, where he started as a biomedical engineer in the Electro-physics Branch. He describes his many responsibilities at the FDA over the past decades, including his research on catheters and mechanical scanning systems, and he explains the sequencing process that gets medical devices approved for use. Beard explains the interagency approval mechanism on issues including regulating wireless coexistence, and cell phone safety. At the end of the interview, Beard describes the unique public health impact that can be attained in a career at the FDA.