George Johann Klein OC, OBE | |
---|---|
Born | Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | August 15, 1904
Died | November 4, 1992 | (aged 88)
Education | University of Toronto |
Known for | Invention of the Canadarm, power wheelchair, microsurgical staple gun, ZEEP nuclear reactor |
Awards | Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame inductee, Order of Canada, Order of the British Empire |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Klein_Drive_Chair_1953.jpg/220px-Klein_Drive_Chair_1953.jpg)
George Johann Klein, OC MBE (August 15, 1904 – November 4, 1992) was a Canadian inventor who is often called the most productive inventor in Canada in the 20th century. Although he struggled as a high school student, he eventually graduated from the University of Toronto in Mechanical Engineering. His inventions include key contributions to the first electric wheelchairs for quadriplegics, the first microsurgical staple gun, the ZEEP nuclear reactor which was the precursor to the CANDU reactor, the international system for classifying ground-cover snow, aircraft skis, the Weasel all-terrain vehicle, the STEM antenna for the space program, and the Canadarm.
Klein worked for forty years as a mechanical engineer at the National Research Council of Canada laboratories in Ottawa (1929–1969).[1]
In 1968, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1995, he was inducted to the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame.[2]
References
[edit]- Notes
- ^ Bourgeois-Doyle 2004, p. 232.
- ^ The Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame: George J. Klein Archived 2010-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, Canada Science and Technology Museum.
- Bibliography
- Bourgeois-Doyle, Richard I. George J. Klein: The Great Inventor. Ottawa: NRC Research Press, 2004. ISBN 0-660-19322-1.
External links
[edit]- George J. Klein at Canadian Science and Technology Museum Hall of Fame
- Canadian Science and Technology Museum Virtual Program at Canadian Science and Technology Museum Archived 2014-10-24 at the Wayback Machine
- Phillipson, Donald J.C. (26 May 2015). "George Klein". The Canadian Encyclopedia (online ed.). Historica Canada.
- George J. Klein at CDC
- NRC Archives Photos - George Klein Wheel Chair Archived 2017-08-25 at the Wayback Machine
- George Klein at Find a Grave