Milan Hudecek (pron. who-de-check, born 9 January 1954) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

-born Australian inventor and entrepreneur. He pioneered the fields of

assistive technology Assistive technology (AT) is a term for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and the elderly. Disabled people often have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently, or even with ...

for the blind (in particular computing for the blind) and radio communications (in particular

software-defined radio Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that have been traditionally implemented in analog hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented by me ...

s). He is a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

, winner of the Winston Gordon Award for Technological Advancement in the Field of Blindness and Visual Impairment, and

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

Award of Engineering Excellence.

Professional career

Founder (1983) and managing director of the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

based Australian Export Award-winning Robotron Group, Hudecek is credited with the invention of the world's first computer for the blind, the Eureka A4, and a number of other assistive products such as

reading machine A reading machine is a piece of assistive technology that allows blind people to access printed materials. It scans text, converts the image into text by means of optical character recognition and uses a speech synthesizer to read out what it has f ...

s for the blind. Hudecek is also the founder (1991) of the Australian company radixon Group (formerly Rosetta Laboratories), specializing in various radio communications equipment, in particular ''software-defined radio''. The company's first product was "WiNRADiO" – a wide-band communications receiver on a PC card, the first such product of its kind. An article describing early WiNRADiO products appeared in 1998 in ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'' magazine. Radixon Group now sells its computer-controlled radio communications receivers and associated hardware and software under the brand name WiNRADiO. In the

1997 Australia Day Honours The 1997 Australia Day Honours are appointments Australian honours system, to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 1997 by the Governor General of Australia, Will ...

Hudecek was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for his "service to people with disabilities through the invention of a laptop computer and other technology for use by people who are blind or partially sighted".

References

External links

Hudecek's company web site

Hudecek's assistive technology inventions

Hudecek's reading machines

Hudecek's radio communications company

Hudecek's software-defined radios
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudecek, Milan Living people 20th-century Australian inventors Czech emigrants to Australia 1954 births Members of the Order of Australia