A head suspension assembly (HSA) for positioning a floating head assembly over selected tracks on the surface of a rotating data storage device, said head suspension assembly comprising a first surface, a proximal end region, a gimbal region acting as a gimbal flexure, and a head assembly with electric terminals attached to the gimbal region. The HSA also includes a spring region adjacent the proximal end region and a monocoque region located in between the gimbal region and the spring region. The monocoque region is a hollow shell having a closed plane figure cross sectional profile and includes a ceiling region and a floor region separated and spaced from each other, and an aperture that traverses both the ceiling region and the floor region. An integrated circuit having a plurality of control pins and a plurality of read-write pins fits into the aperture. A first set of electrical conductors connects the head terminals to the read-write pins and a second set of electrical conductors connects the control pins to exit terminal means for electrically coupling the second set of conductors to circuitry outside of the head suspension assembly.