Dr. Willem Kolff, inventor of dialysis and heart machines died at 97.
Read his obituary. I had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Kolff several times at meetings of the American Society of Artificial Organs, in the 1970's.
He knew that making progress requires taking risks, even with a person's life. But the results of his risk taking, vision and hard work have saved the lives of many thousands of patients, who rely on connection to a modern dialysis machine to keep them alive.
- He did not accept that failure of an organ meant certain death. Insisted that there must be a solution.
- Used readily available materials and quick tests to prove his concepts
- Improved results through iteration and collaboration with others.
- He was always open to new ideas and to listening to young engineers (like me).
Dr. Kolff's life and accomplishments live as an inspiration to future innovators. I teach a freshman design studio at RPI. Three years ago, Oliver Williams and his 3 teammates, were working to design a device to filter water and make it safe to drink. They did research and found 10 different methods. One was "reverse osmosis". They read that an animal intestine could be used as the membrane. Just like Dr. Kolff, Oliver built a working model, using sausage casing from the local butcher, a hand pump, some plastic tubing and 2 plastic 1 gallon jugs. He put apple cider in one jug, pumped and got clear water out into the second jug.
Dr. Kolff LIVES.
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