Lifetime Achievement Award “Tiroler des Jahres” for MED-EL CEO Dr Ingeborg Hochmair

Sep 22, 2023

September 22, 2023 – (Innsbruck, Austria): The “Tiroler des Jahres 2023” (“Tyroleans of the Year 2023”) were honored by Club Tirol in Vienna on September 21. Dr Ingeborg Hochmair was honored for her lifetime achievement as the co-founder and CEO of MED-EL and her work to help change the lives of people living with hearing loss.

The award for "Tyrolean of the Year – Lifetime Achievement" went to Dr Ingeborg Hochmair, CEO and co-founder of MED-EL. Together with her husband Prof. Erwin Hochmair, she developed the world's first microelectronic multichannel cochlear implant, allowing people with severe to profound hearing loss to hear again and lead an active life.
They founded MED-EL in 1990, choosing Innsbruck as the location for their company, which quickly developed into one of the world's leading providers in the field of hearing implant systems. Julian Hadschieff, President of Club Tirol, stated in his laudatio that it is “truly an impressive lifetime achievement characterized by a spirit of research, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy with the aim of helping people.”

Dr Ingeborg Hochmair expressed her pride upon receiving this special award, saying: "I am truly honored to receive this Lifetime Achievement Award. Innsbruck, Tyrol, is where it all started in 1990, and from here we grew from five employees to an international team of more than 2,600 people, more than 1,700 of which are located in Innsbruck. This award reaffirms our commitment to improving the lives of people with hearing loss, and it is a testament to the enduring spirit of innovation that has always defined the team of MED-EL and the partners that we work with across the globe.” 

Other award winners include Clemens Pig, CEO of the APA (Austria Press Agency), who can now be called "Tyrolean of the Year 2023". "Tyrolean of the Year 2023" was Karin Becker, the current reigning world champion in Blind Golf.

About MED-EL

MED-EL Medical Electronics, a leader in implantable hearing solutions, is driven by a mission to overcome hearing loss as a barrier to communication and quality of life. The Austrian-based, privately owned business was co-founded by industry pioneers Ingeborg and Erwin Hochmair, whose ground-breaking research led to the development of the world’s first micro-electronic multi-channel cochlear implant (CI), which was successfully implanted in 1977 and was the basis for what is known as the modern CI today. This laid the foundation for the successful growth of the company in 1990, when they hired their first employees. To date, MED-EL has more than 2,600 employees from around 80 nations and 30 locations worldwide.
The company offers the widest range of implantable and non-implantable solutions to treat all types of hearing loss, enabling people in over 140 countries enjoy the gift of hearing with the help of a MED-EL device. MED-EL’s hearing solutions include cochlear and middle ear implant systems, a combined electric acoustic stimulation hearing implant system, auditory brainstem implants as well as surgical and non-surgical bone conduction devices. www.medel.com

CEO

Doz. DI Dr DDr med. h.c. Ingeborg Hochmair

Press contact

PR & Corporate Communications
MED-EL Medical Electronics
Fürstenweg 77a
6020 Innsbruck
Austria


T: +43 5 7788-1029

E: press@medel.com
www.medel.com