MED-EL Founders Ingeborg Hochmair, PhD, and Professor Erwin Hochmair Awarded 2015 Russ Prize from the National Academy of Engineering (PHOTO)

Innsbruck (ots) -

- Cross-reference: Picture is available at:
http://www.presseportal.de/galerie.htx?type=obs -

The National Academy of Engineering announced today that
bioengineering pioneers and MED-EL Medical Electronics GmbH co-
founders Ingeborg Hochmair, PhD, and Professor Erwin Hochmair have
been awarded the 2015 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, for
engineering cochlear implants that enable the deaf to hear. The prize
is shared with Duke University Professor Blake Wilson, MED-EL advisor
and Director of MED-EL's first US-based, onsite basic research
laboratory in Durham, NC; Professor Graeme Clark, University of
Melbourne; and Professor Emeritus Michael Merzenich, University of
California, San Francisco.

The lives of nearly 450,000 people of all ages around the world
have been touched, and in many cases, transformed, because of the
vision and work of many researchers, engineers and surgeons. The
cochlear implant was, and remains, the first replacement of a human
sense: the sense of hearing.

The Hochmairs are being recognized for their outstanding
bioengineering achievements toward the development of cochlear
implants.

"Our corporate mission is now the same as our personal mission
from the start: to overcome hearing loss as a barrier to
communication and quality of life," said Ingeborg. "While it was
possible to develop the very first multichannel cochlear implant
system as a very small engineering team, our current development team
is comprised of approximately 250 engineers and physicists, all
working passionately towards future technological advances for
existing and new recipients of hearing implant systems."

"Designing and further developing hearing implants has been so
intriguing because it involves many different fields of science and
engineering such as circuit design, microelectronics, radio frequency
engineering, mechanical engineering, material science, information
technology, software development, and acoustics in addition to the
physiological complexities associated with working with the human
body," said Erwin. "But, it is so much more than an engineering task.
Opening the world of sound to people living in silence is an idea
that would have once been ridiculous. It's humbling to think of the
many infants, children and adults from around the world who have had
doors opened because of this technology - an idea whose time had
come."

Early Success Makes History

In 1975, cochlear implant development in Vienna was initiated by
Ingeborg Hochmair, a PhD in electrical engineering, and Erwin, a
Professor at the Technical University in Vienna, at the request of
Professor Kurt Burian, head of the ENT-Clinic at the University of
Vienna. The implant had eight channels, a stimulation rate of 10,000
pulses per second per channel, eight independent current sources and
a flexible electrode for 22-25mm insertion into the cochlea. This
led to the world's first multichannel, micro-electronic cochlear
implant surgery in Vienna, Austria, on December 16, 1977. Professor
Kurt Burian performed the early implant surgeries.

Looking Toward the Future

Today, MED-EL is a worldwide leader in hearing implant technology.
Early cochlear implant discoveries have led to the development of new
technologies to treat hearing loss, including electric-acoustic
stimulation and auditory brain stem implants. While once limited in
scope, the adoption of cochlear implants continues to expand around
the world. However, there remains a great need for improved access
to this technology, which has the potential to improve the lives of
many millions of people globally.

Speaking to future bioengineers and researchers, Ingeborg said,
"We live during one of the most exciting times in history for
biomedical research and development. The outgrowth of technological
advances has been exceptional in terms of the possibilities for
people with hearing loss and many other medical conditions. What
seemed impossible just a generation ago, is now not only possible,
but has become widespread practice. There are so many further
developments awaiting realization and many discoveries yet to be
made."

About MED-EL

MED-EL Medical Electronics is a leading provider of hearing
implant systems worldwide. The company was founded by Austrian
scientists and industry pioneers Ingeborg and Erwin Hochmair, who
together developed the world's first microelectronic, multichannel
cochlear implant in 1977. The cochlear implant was and remains the
first replacement of a human sense, the sense of hearing. In 1990,
the Hochmairs laid the foundation for the successful growth of the
company when they hired their first employees. Today, the privately-
held company has more than 1,500 employees around the world.
Individuals in more than 100 countries enjoy the gift of hearing with
a MED-EL Hearing Implant System.

MED-EL's mission is to overcome hearing loss as a barrier to
communication and quality of life. The company offers the widest
range of implantable solutions worldwide to treat the various degrees
of hearing loss, including cochlear, middle ear and bone conduction
implant systems as well as a system for combined electric and
acoustic stimulation. www.medel.com

The Hochmairs and entire MED-EL family congratulate all of this
year's Russ Prize recipients.

Contact:
Thomas Herrmann
MED-EL Medical Electronics
Fürstenweg 77a
A - 6020 Innsbruck
T: +43 (0) 577 88 5182
press [a] medel.com