George Johann Klein, (August 15, 1904 – November 4, 1992) was a Canadian inventor who is widely regarded as 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). 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.
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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