The Swanson School presents alumna Rebecca Gottlieb with 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award for Bioengineering

PITTSBURGH (March 16, 2016) … More than 300 faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the Swanson School of Engineering gathered last night to recognize this year's Distinguished Alumni Award recipients at the School's annual banquet in the University of Pittsburgh's Alumni Hall. Gerald D. Holder, US Steel Dean of Engineering, presented awards honoring alumni from each of the School's six departments, as well as for the Swanson School overall. This year's recipient for the Department of Bioengineering was Rebecca Gottlieb, BSME '93, PhD BIOE '01, Director of Advanced Research for Medtronic Diabetes.

"Bioengineering is our youngest degree program, and Rebecca was one of the first undergraduates to utilize her bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Pitt as a foundation to earn her PhD in bioengineering," Dean Holder said.  "Since that time, she has built an impressive and award-winning career at Medtronic, leading multiple teams of engineers and others in medical design toward diabetes treatment. She is an outstanding representative of our bioengineering alumni."

About Rebecca Gottlieb
Dr. Rebecca Gottlieb earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1993 from the University of Pittsburgh, returning for a doctorate in Bioengineering in 2001, and certificate in Cardiovascular Engineering. While earning her PhD, Dr. Gottlieb was also a biomedical engineer at UPMC.  She monitored various artificial heart devices in OR and ICU settings, studied intra-aortic balloon pumps parameters, and assisted with in-hospital and emergency air-transport of patients.

Passionate about innovation and the process of creating medical devices, Dr. Rebecca Gottlieb has spent 20 years in implantable and minimally invasive medical device research and design, specializing in diabetes and cardiac replacement devices. Beginning as a research scientist at Medtronic Diabetes developing long-term implantable and short-term subcutaneous glucose sensors, she steadily moved through the ranks with increasing responsibility until becoming senior director of advanced research. She created a new multi-faceted innovation strategy for the three-business unit Diabetes group and was responsible for leading exploration of future research opportunities on a five- to ten-year development horizon. Her efforts included closed-loop automated insulin delivery algorithms, novel sensing and delivery devices, and future data-management applications.

Through this work, Dr. Gottlieb has directed multiple teams of engineers from exploration phase through validation, regulatory submission, and commercial launch. She currently holds 33 issued original patents, including Sof-Sensor, Enlite, Sentrino, continuous glucose sensors, Guardian transmitter, MiniLink transmitter, mySentry remote monitoring system, Sentrino Processor Cable, and Sentrino Monitor.

In 2012, Dr. Gottlieb received a President’s Technical Award for Distinguished Innovator for medical design of her mySentry remote monitor. She also won the Spark Silver design award for mySentry remote monitor. In 2013, Dr. Gottlieb and her team were honored by Edison Awards for assistive devices. Award recipients are considered “the best of the best” as determined by the world’s top business executives, academics, and innovation professionals. Her mySentry device has received many awards, including a Device Medical Design Excellence Award for the mySentry Remote Monitor. In 2015, Rebecca was inducted into the Bakken Society, the highest technical award at Medtronic, exemplifying technical leadership in innovation, integrity, and the Medtronic Mission.

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Pictured above from left: Dean Holder, Rebecca Gottlieb and Sanjeev Shroff, Distinguished Professor and Chair of Bioengineering