Who is Martine KEMPF
Martine KEMPF is the CEO of KEMPF Inc. in the US and of KEMPF SAS in Europe.
In 1985 as an astronomy student she invented the Katalavox, a speech recognition control system used to control secondary functions in cars for drivers without the use of their arms.
She taught herself electroncs in her spare time with books and magazines and designed a very fast and reliable speech recognition system way ahead of its time.
Her invention was used in cars for disabled drivers, in power wheelchairs for quadriplegics and in surgical microspcopes used by surgeons in operating rooms.
In 1985 she wanted to start her own company in France but the socialist government had nationalized the banks and the government promised her a loan that never materialized, so she left France and came to Silicon Valley to start her business.
In five minutes with five Dollars she started her company in Sunnyvale, CA. Her company thrived adapting surgical microscopes for many hospitals like Mayo Clinic, UCLA, Stanford, Manhattan Eye and Ear and many others.
She also adapted the surgical microscopes of world famous Prof. Svatislav Fyodorov in Moscow, Russia in 1985.
Her company KEMPF was named "Small Business of the Year" by the City of Sunnyvale and the County of Santa Clara in 1990.
She received many awards for her work and many articles and book chapters were published about her.
In 1987 her hometown in France, Dossenheim-Kochersberg, named a street after her: "Rue Martine Kempf". Present at the dedication was the President of the European Parliament, Pierre Pflimlin. She was just 28.
Her immigration to the US was facilitated by President Reagan whom she had given a voice activated toy train for his 73rd birthday in 1984.
Article in People Magazine in 1986:
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20093718,00.html
In the mid-1990 her company in California designed and built many electronic circuits for her father's company in France who was adapting car for drivers with disabilities. She became his biggest supplier, so when he passed away in 2002, she decided to restart his company in France and became the CEO of KEMPF SAS. This company adapts today around 1000 cars per year for drivers wth disabilities.
In 2007 she started KEMPF Inc. in the US to adapt cars for American Veterans and other drivers with different mobility and opened an installation site in Tampa, Florida in February 2008.
She hopes to revolutionize the market of hand controls in the US offering digital solutions which respect the safety and comfort of modern automobiles.
with Prof. Fyodorov in Moskow
with Dr. Vincent Hentz at Stanford University
Street dedication in Dossenheim-Kochersberg, Alsace France
