Jun 24, 2015

ASTM International Committee F04 on Medical and Surgical Materials and Devices has honored Charles Sidebottom, managing partner of PPO Standards LLC in Plymouth, Minnesota, with the Award of Merit.

The Award of Merit, which includes the accompanying title of fellow, is ASTM’s highest organizational recognition for individual contributions to standards activities. The committee recognized Sidebottom’s outstanding leadership and productivity in the development of ASTM surgical implant standards. 


An ASTM member since 2001, Sidebottom currently services as F04 producer vice chairman. He has been a key technical contributor on several F04 subcommittees and task groups, including those on MRI Standards, Computer-Assisted Orthopedic Surgery and Human Clinical Trials. The committee honored him with its highest award, the Patrick G. Laing Award, in 2009, and the Robert E. Fairer Award in 2005. Sidebottom also served a term on the ASTM board of directors from 2012 to 2014, for which he received a Service Award. He also works on the ASTM Committees on Packaging and Flexible Barrier Packaging.

Sidebottom has been heavily involved in international standards work since 1987. Prior to founding PPO Standards in 2014, he was standards manager and then director of corporate standards at Medtronic Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During that time, he represented Medtronic in various national and international standards development organizations related to the medical device industry. Named a Medtronic technical fellow in 2011, he was also a distinguished standards advisor in Medtronic’s Global Regulatory Affairs Organization.

Sidebottom serves as secretary to the International Electrotechnical Commission Subcommittee 62A, Common Aspects of Electrical Equipment Used in Medical Practice, and as secretary of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 150/SC 5 on Osteosynthesis and Spinal Devices. He is a U.S. delegate to ISO/TC 150 and TC 210, and serves on many working groups and project teams, including the ISO/IEC joint working group on Application of Risk Management to Medical Devices.

A licensed professional engineer, Sidebottom is a subject matter expert on standardization for the World Medical Device Organization (WMDO) based in Ecublens, Switzerland. He served 12 years on the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) board of directors, including two years as its chairman. He is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Society, the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society and SES – the Society for Standards Professionals.

Sidebottom holds a bachelor’s degree electrical engineering from Iowa State University and a master’s in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri. 

ASTM PR Contact: Erin K. Brennan, tel: +1.610.832.9602; ebrennan@astm.org

Release #9846