Yulun Wang, Ph.D. Elected Into National Academy of Engineering

Feb. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- InTouch Health is pleased to announce that its chairman and chief executive officer, Dr. Yulun Wang, has been elected to the prestigious ranks of the National Academy of Engineering.  This significant achievement is earned through a career dedicated to improving healthcare delivery through science and engineering.  

Individuals are elected into membership of the National Academy of Engineering based on their contributions to “engineering research, practice or education, engineering literature,” and for their work in “pioneering new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

Dr. Wang previously founded Computer Motion, Inc. in 1989, which pioneered the field of surgical robots.  He was the principal architect and inventor of a voice-controlled robotic arm called, AESOP, the first FDA-cleared surgical robot used by surgeons to hold and control a camera in endoscopic surgery.  Dr. Wang was also one of the inventors of the ZEUS robotic surgical system, which performed the world’s first transatlantic surgery between New York City and Strasbourg, France in September 2001.  Computer Motion went on to merge with Intuitive Surgical , wherein surgical robots have been widely adopted as the standard of care in minimally invasive procedures such as prostate surgery.

Dr. Wang founded InTouch Health in 2002 to develop the concept of Remote Presence telemedicine to enable physicians to remotely perform complete and real time consults on hospital patients.  Remote Presence telemedicine extends a physician’s reach to manage patient care, thereby removing critical time and distance barriers.

Dr. Wang serves on the Board of Directors for the American Telemedicine Association, and Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, CA.  The National Academy of Engineering recognized Dr. Wang in 2000 as one of the nation’s top young engineers to participate in the Frontiers of Engineering program.  In 2005, Yulun was honored as a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award.  He was the recipient of the prestigious Venky Narayanmurti Entrepreneurial leadership Award in 2007, and the UCSB College of Engineering Alumni Award in 2009.  Under Dr. Wang’s leadership, InTouch Health was awarded Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 Award, ranking at 39 and Inc Magazine’s Top 500 Award at 289, placing 18 for top 100 health companies.  Dr. Wang has more than 50 publications and is a named inventor on over 100 issued patents and pending patent applications worldwide in the area of robotics and computers.

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InTouch Health provides comprehensive telemedicine solutions that enable physicians to perform real-time consults with hospital patients, effectively extendig the reach to manage patient care and thereby removing critical time and distance barriers.