aIDEAS Sponsored

Colin Johanson

Colin Johanson lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. His love of the outdoors and exhilarating sports started him flying hang gliders in 1974. This eventually led to an accident which damaged his spine and spinal chord (broken neck), leaving him a quadriplegic.

Colin's passion is to create projects using the tools and capabilities of computers that minimise a user's disability while optimising potential abilities. As such he now uses CAD to develop real equipment for people with disabilities, from snow and water skiing, sailing and wheelchairs.

He completed post graduate studies in ergonomics in 1981, and after established a small manufacturing business based around manufacturing products for medical use. Colin taught himself technical drawing and later developing computer skills and Computer Aided Drafting knowledge. In 1985 he became a furniture and interior designer for a commercial office company. Electronic publishing was the focus of Colin's attention from 1988 till 1998, and later took on the task of Web Developer. Now he is actively developing, to commercialization, new AT products of his design.

Colin has won numerous awards including: "2006 Viewer's Choice Award" on Australian TV's New Inventors, Inaugural World Champion Quadriplegic Snow-skier (1991); Recipient of the "R.E. Ross Trust" Grant - Finance for the design and development of light weight wheelchairs (1982); One of the Australian Jaycees' "Five Outstanding Young Australians" (NSW and ACT) (1980); and Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Trust Award - enabled purchase of manufacturing equipment. (1978).

Read more about Colin Johanson assistive technology:

www.coolmobility.com.au www.gizbytes.com

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