Guru Madhavan is the Norman R. Augustine Senior Scholar and senior director of programs at the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He has contributed to the research and development of cardiac surgical catheters for ablation therapy and neuromuscular stimulators for improving blood circulation, and has led analyses for prioritizing new vaccines for development, prescription drug pricing, and developing strategies for cancer control. He has served as a technical advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the European Union Malaria Fund. A systems engineer by background, he received his M.S. and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and an M.B.A. from the State University of New York that awarded him the Edward Weisband Distinguished Alumni Award for Public Service or Contribution to Public Affairs. He has served as a vice-president of IEEE-USA and was a founding member of the Global Young Academy, and has been named a distinguished young scientist by the World Economic Forum. His awards include the National Academies’ Innovator Award, National Academy of Medicine’s Cecil Medal, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation’s highest honor, the Laufman-Greatbatch Award, for significant contributions to health systems and technology, the AAMI Becton Dickinson Award for Professional Achievement, and the Washington Academy of Sciences’ Leadership Award in engineering. His publications include the coedited volume “Engineering and Philosophy” (Springer), the coauthored book "Making Better Choices: Design, Decisions, and Democracy" (Oxford), and the widely translated nonfiction "Applied Minds: How Engineers Think" (W.W. Norton). For his writings and lectures, he has received the IEEE-USA Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Public Understanding and the Advancement of the Engineering Profession, the IEEE-USA George F. McClure Citation of Honor, and the IEEE Alfred N. Goldsmith Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Communication. He is an elected fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (UK), the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.