Mechanical Engineering Advisory Council

Gerald W. Timm, Ph.D.
GT Urological, LLC

Dr. Gerald W. Timm’s formal education was in engineering at the University of Minnesota where he earned B.E.E., M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. (E.E.) degrees in 1963, ’65 and ’67, respectively. Upon completion, he joined the faculties of the U of MN Medical School’s Departments of Neurology and Biomedical Engineering, researching problems of the pelvic organs resulting from spinal cord injury, stroke and other neurological disorders. This work resulted in the conceptualization and subsequent development of a variety of devices for diagnosing and treating urinary control and male erectile disorders. Dr. Timm served on a committee which developed the Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Engineering. He has authored or co-authored 72 scientific publications, contributed chapters in textbooks and is the inventor or co-inventor on 20 separate U.S. patents as well as their international counterparts.

He co-founded Mentor Corporation and American Medical Systems, founded Dacomed Corporation, Timm Medical Technologies and recently started GT Urological, LLC, to bring these concepts to market. He currently has a part-time faculty appointment as Professor of Urological Surgery at the University of Minnesota and is actively engaged in studies of urological disorders.

Dr. Timm’s community activities have included service on the Board of Directors of several non-profit organizations. Freeport West is a youth and family service organization where he served from 1974 to 2004. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Park Nicollet Health Systems and of the TRIA Orthopedic Center. In 2001, the University of Minnesota honored Timm with its Outstanding Achievement Award, the highest honor the University bestows on its alumni. Among other things, the Award cited Timm for his “pioneering research on electrical bladder stimulation and fluid energy transfer systems.”