Medtronic Honors Scientists for Their Contributions to the Device Industry

Three scientists instrumental in developing Medtronic medical devices and ensuring their quality have been inducted into the Bakken Society, the company's highest technical honor. The inductees are:

Willem Boute, director of marketing communication and business support at Medtronic's Vitatron Medical organization in Dieren, the Netherlands. Boute is responsible for many Vitatron pacemaker features that offer diagnostic capabilities and address preventive pacing. He has been instrumental in defining several generations of pacemakers with respect to algorithms, QT-related circuits, and the first microprocessor-based pacemaker.

David K. L. Peterson, senior principal biomedical engineer in Medtronic Tachyarrhythmia Management. Peterson has been a leader in the advancement of tachyarrhythmia products, and has been the focal point for defining the features and coordinating the technical aspects of implantable defibrillators and related programmer applications. He served as the system designer for the Medtronic PCD, Jewel, and Jewel AF families of implantable devices.

Craig L. Schmidt, manager, battery research, at Medtronic Promeon. Schmidt has been instrumental in the development of integrated battery-powered implantable devices using a unified approach that is unprecedented at Medtronic in the Cardiac Rhythm Management and Neurological product lines. He is recognized as the cardiac rhythm management industry's leading expert on power sources for bradycardia pacemakers.

Members of the Bakken Society are nominated by colleagues and approved by the Medtronic board of directors. They are recognized for multiple technical contributions to the corporation and to the biomedical device industry.