View source for Biography:George Klein (inventor)

{{Short description|Canadian inventor}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = 
| name               = George Johann Klein
| honorific_suffix   = OC, OBE
| image              = George Klein.JPG
| alt                = George J. Klein
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1904|08|15}}
| birth_place        = Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1992|11|04|1904|08|15}}
| death_place        = [[Place:Ottawa|Ottawa]], Ontario
| death_cause        = 
| resting_place      = 
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| monuments          = 
| nationality        = Canadian
| other_names        = 
| citizenship        = 
| education          = [[Organization:University of Toronto|University of Toronto]]
| alma_mater         = 
| occupation         = 
| years_active       = 
| employer           = 
| organization       = 
| known_for          = Invention of the [[Engineering:Canadarm|Canadarm]], power wheelchair, microsurgical [[Engineering:Staple gun|staple gun]], [[Physics:ZEEP|ZEEP]] nuclear reactor
| spouse             = 
| children           = 
| parents            = 
| relatives          = 
| awards             = Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame inductee, Order of Canada, Order of the British Empire
| signature          = 
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| website            = <!-- {{URL|www.example.com}} -->
| footnotes          = 
}}
[[File:Klein_Drive_Chair_1953.jpg|thumb|right|George Klein (back) and his electric wheelchair in 1953]]
'''George Johann Klein''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|OC|MBE}} (August 15, 1904 &ndash; November 4, 1992) was a Canadian [[Social:Inventor|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 [[Organization:University of Toronto|University of Toronto]] in Mechanical Engineering. His inventions include key contributions to the first electric [[Engineering:Wheelchair|wheelchair]]s for [[Medicine:Quadriplegia|quadriplegic]]s, the first microsurgical [[Engineering:Staple gun|staple gun]], the [[Physics:ZEEP|ZEEP]] [[Physics:Nuclear reactor|nuclear reactor]] which was the precursor to the [[Engineering:CANDU reactor|CANDU reactor]], the international system for classifying ground-cover [[Physics:Snow|snow]], aircraft skis, the Weasel [[Engineering:All-terrain vehicle|all-terrain vehicle]], the STEM antenna for the space program, and the [[Engineering:Canadarm|Canadarm]].

Klein worked for forty years as a mechanical engineer at the National Research Council of Canada laboratories in Ottawa (1929–1969).<ref>Bourgeois-Doyle 2004, p. 232.</ref>

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.<ref>[http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/about/hallfame/u_i19_e.cfm The Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame: George J. Klein] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227132350/http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/about/hallfame/u_i19_e.cfm |date=2010-12-27 }}, Canada Science and Technology Museum.</ref>

== References ==
;Notes
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
* Bourgeois-Doyle, Richard I. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071225163352/http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/books/books/9780660193229.html ''George J. Klein: The Great Inventor.''] Ottawa: NRC Research Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-660-19322-1}}.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101227132350/http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/about/hallfame/u_i19_e.cfm George J. Klein at Canadian Science and Technology Museum Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/schoolzone/virtual_hall_of_fame.cfm Canadian Science and Technology Museum Virtual Program at Canadian Science and Technology Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024120328/http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/schoolzone/virtual_hall_of_fame.cfm |date=2014-10-24 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Phillipson |first=Donald J.C. |title=George Klein |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |date=26 May 2015 |publisher=Historica Canada |edition=online |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/george-klein}}
* [http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/heirloom_series/volume6/volume6.htm George J. Klein at CDC]
* [http://dr-dn.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/browse/images/?cn=nrcarchivesphotographs&al=George+Klein+Wheel+Chair NRC Archives Photos -     George Klein Wheel Chair] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825114011/http://dr-dn.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/browse/images/?cn=nrcarchivesphotographs&al=George+Klein+Wheel+Chair |date=2017-08-25 }}
* {{find a Grave|202905975}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, George}}
[[Category:Manhattan Project people]]



{{Sourceattribution|George Klein (inventor)}}