Walt Baxter
Senior Principal Scientist
Medtronic Neuromodulation
Seminar Information
The seminar will highlight fundamental implanted device mechanics measurement conducted in the UCSD Bioengineering Department in the 1990s, discuss a unique way that a corporate partner engaged with researchers at UCSD, and the longer-term way that the research impacted medical device product development and ultimately patients.
Dr. Baxter serves as a Senior Principal Scientist and Technical Fellow in Medtronic’s Implantables Restorative Therapies business group helping to develop novel stimulation leads for positioning electrodes within the nervous system. Dr. Baxter has patented key ideas and published seminal works detailing the mechanical conditions implanted medical devices are exposed to during their lifetimes and is a Bakken Fellow, Medtronic’s highest technical honor.
In addition to his work at Medtronic, Dr. Baxter proudly chairs the Board of Trustees of the UC San Diego Bioengineering Department, serves on the external advisory board for UC San Diego’s Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and co-chairs the advisory board at UCLA’s Department of Bioengineering. Walt serves on the BMES Coulter College steering committee and has co-hosted about 100 undergraduate bioengineering students from 24 Universities at Medtronic to participate in the College over the last two years. Prior to joining Medtronic, Walt studied Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and obtained a Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego where he developed, implemented, and validated novel algorithms for elucidating the mechanics of implanted medical devices.
Dr. Baxter guest lectures in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering courses at UC Irvine, UCLA, and UC San Diego and also speaks to student groups on University campuses about careers in the medical device industry wherein he seeks to attract talented students. Dr. Baxter is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) where he works to further awareness of how Medical and Biological Engineering impacts the lives of people around the world.