Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, a prominent University of Minnesota surgeon, was exploring the use of electrical stimulation to control heart activity. Primitive pacemakers relied on external electrodes and bulky, unreliable power sources plugged into wall outlets. Lillehei was looking for an engineering solution to these limitations. He asked Bakken to build a battery-powered device small enough to be worn on a patient’s belt yet able to deliver a regularly paced current through a wire to the surface of the patient’s heart. Six weeks later Bakken had developed the world’s first reliable cardiac pacemaker. In 1984, the National Society of Professional Engineers named the cardiac pacemaker one of the ten outstanding engineering achievements of the last half of the 20th century. Under Bakken’s leadership Medtronic has become a world leader in the field of implantable medical devices for the treatment of cardiovascular and neurological disorders. Bakken also helped develop Medical Alley, a consortium of various manufacturers in Minnesota to develop and promote the area as a hotbed of medical innovation.