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, a novel microsurgical suturing device, 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
- 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
- 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
- Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
- 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
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