Ingeborg Hochmair facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ingeborg J. Hochmair-Desoyer
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| Born | 1953 Vienna, Austria
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| Occupation | MED-EL |
| Spouse(s) | Erwin Hochmair |
| Awards | Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (2013) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Electrical engineering |
| Institutions | MED-EL |
Ingeborg J. Hochmair-Desoyer, born in 1953, is an amazing Austrian electrical engineer. She is also the CEO and CTO of MED-EL, a company that makes hearing implants.
Dr. Hochmair and her husband, Professor Erwin Hochmair, worked together to create the world's first micro-electronic multi-channel cochlear implant. This invention helps many people hear better. For her important work on the modern cochlear implant, she received the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award. She also won the 2015 Russ Prize for bioengineering.
In 1989, she helped start the medical device company MED-EL.
Contents
Her Life Story
Ingeborg Hochmair was born in 1953 in Vienna, Austria. Her family was full of smart people! Her mother was a physicist, and her father was a dean at the Vienna University of Technology. Even her grandmother was one of the first female chemical engineers in Austria.
Becoming an Engineer
Ingeborg started studying electrical engineering at the Technical University of Vienna in 1971. In 1975, she made history by becoming the first woman in Austria to earn a PhD in electrical engineering. Her special project was about how to build and test a system for stimulating the hearing nerve.
From 1976 to 1986, she worked as a professor at the Technical University of Vienna. She also spent time teaching at Stanford University in 1979. Later, in 1986, she moved to Innsbruck and taught at the University of Innsbruck.
Starting MED-EL
In 1989, Ingeborg Hochmair and her husband, Erwin Hochmair, started their own company called MED-EL. This company focuses on creating hearing implants. Today, she is still the CEO and CTO of MED-EL, leading the company's work.
Supporting Science
Outside of her company, Ingeborg Hochmair loves to support new research. In 2012, she helped create a special professorship at the University of Innsbruck. This helps people study microelectronics and implantable systems. The University of Innsbruck also has "Ingeborg Hochmair Professorships" to encourage more women to become researchers in science and technology.
Her Amazing Research
In 1975, Ingeborg and Erwin Hochmair began working on the cochlear implant at the Technical University of Vienna. Their main goal was to help people not just hear sounds, but also understand speech.
The First Multi-Channel Implant
Together, they created the world's first microelectronic multi-channel cochlear implant. This special implant had a long, flexible wire called an electrode. For the first time, this electrode could send electrical signals to the hearing nerve along a large part of the inner ear, called the cochlea. Before this, other implants only used one channel.
This new multi-channel device was first used in a patient in December 1977. It was a huge step forward!
Understanding Speech
In 1979, an improved version of this device allowed a woman to understand words and sentences without needing to read lips. This happened even in a quiet room, using a small sound processor she could wear. This was a major breakthrough for modern cochlear implants. It was one of the first times a device could truly replace a human sense. Hearing loss is a big problem around the world, and this invention helped many people.
Continued Improvements
Through MED-EL, Dr. Hochmair has continued to make many advances in hearing implant research. In 1991, they introduced a sound processor that could be worn behind the ear. They also developed new ways to process sound and created single-unit audio processors. They are even working on a totally implantable cochlear implant that would be completely hidden inside the body.
Dr. Hochmair has more than 40 patents for parts of her cochlear implant. This means she legally owns the ideas for these inventions. Many of her patents are for improved versions of older parts. She has kept updating and making her device better over the years. As of 2015, more than 400,000 people around the world were using her device to hear.
Awards and Honours
Ingeborg Hochmair has received many awards for her important work:
- 1977 Best Paper Award, European Solid State Circuits Conference
- 1981 Holzer Prize, Technical University of Vienna
- 1984 Sandoz Prize, Vienna
- 1995 Business Woman of the Year Award
- 1996 Wilhelm Exner Medal
- 2004 Honorary Doctorate in Medicine, Technical University of Munich
- 2008 Medal of Honour, State of Tyrol
- 2010 Honorary Doctorate, Medical University of Innsbruck
- 2013 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, New York, USA
- 2014 Ludwig Wittgenstein Prize, Austrian Research Foundation
- 2015 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, US National Academy of Engineering
- 2015 Johann Joseph Ritter von Prechtl Medal, Technical University of Vienna
- 2016 Technology Prize, Eduard Rhein Foundation Munich
- 2018 Honorary Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
- 2018 Honorary Doctorate, University of Bern
- 2020 Honorary Doctorate, University of Uppsala
- 2021 Honorary Doctorate in Science, University of Innsbruck
Personal life
Ingeborg Hochmair is married to her husband and business partner, Erwin Hochmair. They have four children together.
See also
In Spanish: Ingeborg Hochmair para niños
