Named for the benefactors of Ohio University's Russ College of Engineering and Technology and the founders of Systems Research Laboratories, the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize is being presented for the first time this year. Awarded biennially, the Russ Prize recognizes outstanding achievement in an engineering advancement that has widespread use and contributes to improving quality of life.
In its initial years, the Russ Prize will set the standard for recognizing the achievements of engineers in bioengineering. The prize consists of a gold medallion and a $500,000 cash award endowed by the Russes through Ohio University. This year's Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize is awarded to two visionary engineers whose commitment to bioengineering resulted in the invention of the pacemaker.
Earl E. Bakken co-founded Medtronic, Incorporated, one of the world's leading developers and manufacturers of therapeutic medical devices. At Medtronic, he developed the first wearable, external, battery-powered, transistorized pacemaker in 1957. Now retired, Mr. Bakken heads the board of directors of the North Hawaii Community Hospital and its developing healing center.
Wilson Greatbatch developed the implantable pacemaker in the late 1950s. After licensing his pacemaker to Medtronic, Incorporated, it gained quick clinical acceptance in the medical world. He continued to refine and improve his invention through the early 1970s. Since 1985, he has turned his attention to genetic engineering as the founder of Greatbatch Gen-Aid.
The pacemaker is an implantable medical device that is most often used for relieving the symptoms of bradycardia, a type of heart condition in which the heart beats at less than 60 beats per minute, a rate that may not fit the body's demands. The pacemaker restores the heartbeat to a normal rate by stimulating the heart muscle with precisely timed discharges of electricity.
Photo credit: Copyright, Medtronic, Inc.
