Dr. Geddes passes away

         I know that this COM 435 blogging effort is meant to highlight emerging technologies, but there was a significant loss to the world of science on Sunday, especially for students of Purdue.  Dr. Leslie Geddes died on Sunday at the age of 88.  For those of you unfamiliar with his contributions, Dr. Geddes developed the world's first implantable defibrillators, which opened the door to vital technologies like pacemakers and heart monitoring devices.  He was also an invaluable contributor to other areas of medical treatment, including blood flow monitors for children and other bio-electric medical therapies.
         I am a Biomedical Engineering student, so I actually was lucky enough to take one of his classes, Medical Device Accidents.  It was a fun course, but judging from the amount of class time that was professed by the TA versus the amount Dr. Geddes was able to work through, he was growing older.  It still didn't stop him from performing his signature unbelievable act every weekday: coming into work at 5:00 AM.  He would do this just so he could be more prepared than anyone else for the day.  He truly was a man apart from the rest.
        In fact, even when he was moved to full time care facility during the last few months of his life, he still requested that his graduate students that worked for him come in and update him on their work.  He would still offer them suggestions and places to look in the case that they were stuck for any reason.  He refused to quit contributing to the grand body of medical knowledge throughout his entire life.  By this fact, I believe that Dr. Geddes went out with his boots on.  If I could choose a way to fight through to the end of my life, I can think of no better manner than that of Dr. Leslie Geddes.  Here's to you Dr. Geddes.