Earl Bakken

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Earl Bakken (2007)

Earl Elmer Bakken (born January 10, 1924 in Minneapolis , Minnesota , † October 22, 2018 in Hawaii ) was an American electrical engineer and entrepreneur . He founded the medical technology company Medtronic in 1949 and invented the first battery-operated pacemaker .

Bakken grew up northeast of Minneapolis and was involved in electrical engineering as a child. So he built a simple stun gun, various radios, a phone connection to a friend, and an electric scoreboard for his high school. After serving in the Air Force for three years during World War II , he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in electrical engineering . In 1948 Bakken received a bachelor's degree. On April 29, 1949, Bakken founded Medtronic with his brother-in-law Palmer Hermundslie. The small company, which was initially run from a garage, specialized in the repair of medical devices. As Medtronic grew soon, Bakken gave up his postgraduate studies and from then on concentrated on his company, which developed into a developer and manufacturer of medical devices.

After a power failure in October 1957 caused a child who had previously been operated on by surgeon Clarence Walton Lillehei to die because the pacemaker failed, Medtronic was commissioned to develop a mains-independent pacemaker. Within a few weeks, Bakken developed a portable, battery-operated pacemaker. It was first used in December 1958. This development provided the basis for the implantable pacemakers that were later developed.

Bakken was Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Medtronic until 1976 and Senior Chairman until 1989. He then moved to Hawaii . In 1994 he left the Board of Directors . In 2001 he received the Russ Prize .

literature

  • Stephen George: Enterprising Minnesotans. University of Minnesota Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8166-4219-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Medtronic founder Earl Bakken has died at his home in Hawaii. October 21, 2018 (English).;
personal data
SURNAME Bakken, Earl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bakken, Earl Elmer (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American electrical engineer and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH January 10, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Minneapolis , Minnesota
DATE OF DEATH October 22, 2018
Place of death Hawaii