Sarah Sandock: 2025 Early Career Award recipient

BSBME ’12, MSBME ’13
Founder & CEO, Dock Technologies

A biomedical engineer and entrepreneur whose company focuses on improving patient outcomes through technology that tracks medical device placement.

Medical devices enable modern medicine but carry a risk: They can cause harmful or even fatal infections. Sarah Sandock saw these consequences impact her family. This exposure inspired her to understand the conditions that lead to these infections.

The seeds for this pursuit were sown long before Sandock arrived at UW-Madison. Her father is a urologist with experience in preventing catheter-associated infections, and her great-grandfather invented one of the first adjustable hospital beds to prevent pressure ulcers.

The BME design program offered a supportive environment to nurture this exploration, helping facilitate early conversations with dozens of nurses and physicians. The discussions pointed to a contributing factor: Tracking medical devices is challenging in the overwhelming hustle of the modern hospital.

Clinicians interact with hundreds of devices per day, and technology could dramatically simplify their workflows. That realization catalyzed Sandock to transform her work from an academic project to a commercial pursuit. The mission: Give clinicians tools to better prioritize medical device care.

Sandock founded Dock Technologies in 2013 and serves as the startup’s CEO. The company’s partially biodegradable INSIGHT Timer displays how long a medical device has been in place; longer times correlate with higher infection risk. Unfortunately, cleaning or removing the devices—actions which reduce risk—are often delayed. Dock’s timers provide easy-to-see information and are designed to prevent such delays. The device is currently being studied in a controlled, randomized clinical trial.

In 2015, The White House named Sandock an Emerging Global Entrepreneur. She has served on the advisory board of the college’s Design Innovation Lab, and also volunteers as an advisor through the BME design program.

“BME design pushed me physically and mentally into the clinical environment. I now help students commercialize their work,” she says, “while emphasizing that direct clinical experience is essential. It’s where problems reveal their solutions.”

What do you enjoy about your career?

A lot. Building physical devices is gratifying—even more so when it solves a distinct set of impactful problems. It’s fantastic to be able to tackle a specific problem in almost every aspect of the work, from forming the big picture to building that solution from the ground up. And very importantly at a personal level, I’ve gotten to know many fascinating people and continue to meet new ones.

Which engineering professor made the greatest impact on you?

Oh, that’s an easy one: Paul Ross (now a faculty associate emeritus in the college’s Interdisciplinary Professional Programs). He introduced me to the concept that “there is never just one problem.” In my work, there’s unlikely to be a clear solution to a top-line problem—like infections that surface during a hospital visit—that holistically can be solved by a single solution. There isn’t one source or cause. Instead, there is usually a complex array of medical, biological, material, social, policy and process problems. A solution must address enough of those problem sets to be viable.

Which do you prefer?

Winter or summer in Madison?
Despite my deep love for ice formations on my eyelashes, I’ll go with summer.

Fun on the Terrace or fun on Lake Mendota?
A few pitchers for the table at the Terrace.

Bascom Hill or Observatory Hill?
Bascom. That’s where the Law Library is, the best library on campus. You get this amazing view of the treescape on Bascom Hill along with a room of deadly silent law students.

Favorite Babcock ice cream flavor?
Blue Moon in a waffle cone with a doppelbock.