Walter L. Robb

NEMA has named Walter L. Robb as its 2004 Bernard Falk Award winner. Robb, who led General Electric’s research and development until he started his own business, is credited with pushing advances in medical imaging technology to the marketplace long before others thought it was possible and fighting lumbering bureaucracies in the nation’s capital that stood in the way.

"Walter Robb helped bring life saving technology to millions of beneficiaries," says NEMA President Malcolm O’Hagan. "He also is a champion of NEMA who provided industry leadership at an important time in history for medical imaging."

Robb was awarded a National Medal of Technology by President Clinton. The award recognized bold leadership at General Electric: "His instinct led the company— and the country—to the forefront of the industry and gave doctors better tools for saving lives and keeping patients healthy."

Robb’s career at General Electric began in 1951 as a chemical engineer at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Schenectady, New York. He performed research on nuclear fuel reprocessing and isotope separation, and marched teadily through the company’s research organization, until he became vice president of corporate research and development in 1986, directing the Schenectady-based GE Research and Development Center. In the ensuing years, under his leadership, GE became the world’s leading producer of medical imaging equipment, a billion dollar business with approximately 10,000 employees worldwide.

Prior to taking over research and development, Robb for many years led GE’s Medical Systems business. In the 1970s, he pushed GE into a business it had overlooked, computed tomography or CT scanning, and shortly shepherded in a major technological breakthrough. CT scanning uses x-rays and computers to make crosssectional images of the body. Contrary to prevailing opinion, Robb believed scanning time could be cut in half, making images clearer because patients’ movement is concomitantly reduced. His team finished a radical new redesign of the equipment within 18 months. A completed scan now took only 4.8 seconds. GE soon grew into the largest provider of CT scanners.

His insight and ability to lead others, as he did in this case, became a signature of all Robb’s work. Robert Britain, vice president of NEMA’s Medical Department, talks about Robb’s service as chairman of NEMA’s Diagnostic Imaging & Therapy Systems Division. "He is a man of character, one clearly motivated to do all in his power to ensure that the diagnostic imaging technology industry attained the highest marks in credibility in the eyes of the regulators, the edical community, and the U.S. Congress. The explosive growth of medical imaging technologies, including CT, nuclear, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), required close cooperation between academia, industry, and government. Walt recognized this earlier than most and had the clear vision and a purposeful strategy to bring it about." Britain says that Robb was the perfect embodiment of his belief in the industry trade association, always participating, always leading. "He did this," says Britain, "to ensure that all of the industry’s imaging firms were publicly accountable, and that they shared in devoting the technical and regulatory resources needed to bring this important technology to the consumer as quickly and as effectively as possible."

Robb again illustrated his technology vision in the early 1980s when GE decided to enter the MRI market. Other machines of the era used magnets of 0.5 Tesla. Robb thought that jumping to 1.5 Tesla might lead to another breakthrough.

Many were skeptical, thinking that such a strong field would interfere with imaging or that radio waves of that particular strength wouldn’t penetrate the body. Robb went ahead anyway, employing a superconducting magnet, the only device that could economically produce such a strong magnetic field. It took a year to make the magnet and achieve the breakthrough. GE soon captured half of the U.S. and global markets.

NEMA was early to recognize Robb’s significant contributions to medical device imaging. In 1989, the association presented Robb with the very first NEMA Medical Technology Award.

"Of course, it would be hard to miss Walter Robb’s achievements," says O’Hagan. "He is a giant in his field and we at NEMA were fortunate enough to be able to benefit from his deep understanding of that field and the foresight that led to widespread acceptance of imaging technology in hospitals and medical practices across the country."

The Bernard H. Falk Award, established in 1991, is given each year in recognition of "outstanding achievement in technology, management, marketing, international trade, education, public affairs, or any other field important to the electroindustry."

Previous winners of the Falk Award include Erle Nye, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, TXU Corp.; Charles W. Denny, chairman of Square D-Schneider Electric North America; United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky; Percy Barnevik, chairman and chief executive officer of Asea Brown Bovery; astronaut Neil Armstrong; and Didier Pineau-Valencienne, chairman and chief executive officer of Group Schneider.