Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada
Charles Deguire, CEO and co-founder of Kinova, is the passionate visionary behind Kinova, the leader of the modern robotics revolution. His priority is to allow human beings to become extraordinary by transcending everyday limitations using next generation robotic technologies. A humble man of science in his entrepreneurial debut, Deguire quickly became an agile businessman and developed Kinova during his Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at École de technologies supérieure de Montréal. After studying health technologies and innovation management, Deguire pursued entrepreneurship studies at MIT. By that time, his first product, a robotic arm, JACO, was launched. His motivation was to create an assistive robotic arm that provides life-changing manipulation capacities for people living with upper-body mobility limitations came from his uncle “JACO” Jacques who lived with muscular dystrophy. To this day, no other technology improves these lives so drastically. Since, Kinova has grown into a team of over 200 Kinovians and networks that provide JACO to over 50 countries and robotics technologies to over 500 public and private research organizations worldwide, such as NASA, Toyota and Google. Thanks to his inspiring vision for robot-human interaction and a keen understanding of the business, Deguire is now leading Kinova in accelerating the pace of innovation in the entire industry. At Kinova we have a passion for robotics, and using it to change the world. We empower every one we touch. From people with disability to surgeons, we allow them to do more by using robots. This is what Kinovians do. You share this passion? Come join the team, become a Kinovian!
Robots are the missing link between the information age and key sectors of the physical economy, from manufacturing and extractive industries, to agriculture, logistics, and health. But Canada has yet to tap the benefits of existing robotics technologies. We envision a near future where Canadians leverage robotics to enhance their productivity, safety, global competitiveness and quality of work.
Kinova is a Canadian company that operates worldwide. Kinova designs and manufactures robotic solutions that are lightweight, compact and versatile—made for robot-human interaction. Kinova empowers people living with upper-body mobility impairments to have freedom of movement, professionals, and universities to drive their research forward, and health-care professionals to provide better outcomes for their patients.
The Governor General's Innovation Awards are an annual celebration of innovations that exemplify excellence and help improve the quality of life in Canada and around the world.
When the 2017 budget was released in March, the federal government announced the creation of the Innovation and Skills Plan. Among other things, the plan included the creation of six Economic Strategy Tables. The other five tables are in the areas of agri-food, clean technology, digital industries, health and biosciences, and clean resources. Participants will determine the challenges inherent to each sector and identify opportunities for innovation. They will also guide the government in its efforts to provide relevant and effective programs for Canada’s innovators in each area and identify long-term conditions that lead to the creation of new business opportunities and middle-class jobs for Canadians. Each table will present a report of its findings and recommendations by summer 2018. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), Navdeep Bains, entrusted Mr. Deguire to chair the advanced manufacturing table to guide federal efforts to create the long-term conditions that lead to the growth of this sector.