Robin Black Full Interview

Biomedical Engineer Robin Black did not know engineers in high school and, although interested in STEM, started a biology program at McMaster. When he learned that no-one from this program was accepted to medical school, he switched to engineering at Queen's, working summers at an orthopedic laboratory in Toronto. He earned a PhD, researching preventing pressure sores for children with spina bifida. He worked with the rehabilitation engineering group at Ontario Crippled Children's Centre for a number of years, until severe funding cutbacks caused him to join the medical engineering program at the National Research Council. One of his projects involved working with Spar Aerospace, then designing the Canadarm, to develop a robotic arm that would allow a bright woman to control her wheelchair with her thumb. He contributed to the Space Life Science Program, studying means to mitigate bone loss problems in space, and worked on the Space Station Advisory Committee. When government funding to NRC was cut, he moved to the NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) in Calgary. Now retired, he volunteers with the Vancouver Island branch of the Canadian Society of Senior Engineers, co-ordinating webinars for the Vancouver Island Engineering Society that attract several hundred attendees. Finally, he offers advice to high-school students interested in careers in engineering and newly graduated Engineers-in-Training.