President Donald J. Trump presented Takeuchi with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation at a White House ceremony.
On May 5, 2019, Esther Sans Takeuchi received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the United States' highest honor for achievement in technology, from President Donald J. Trump at a White House ceremony. The medal's citation recognized her seminal development of the silver vanadium oxide battery that powers the majority of implantable cardiac defibrillators worldwide, as well as her broader contributions to medical device battery technology and electrochemical energy storage.
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is awarded by the President of the United States to individuals, teams, or companies for outstanding contributions to the nation's economic, environmental, and social well-being through the development and commercialization of technological products, processes, and concepts. Takeuchi's selection reflected decades of sustained innovation spanning her time at Greatbatch Inc. and her academic research at the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University, alongside her affiliation with Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Her receipt of the medal was historically significant not only for its recognition of a life-saving medical technology but also because it placed her among a small number of women ever to receive this top-tier national distinction, joining an elite roster of American scientists and engineers honored for transformative innovation.