Australian engineering innovations: #4

Cochlear implant/bionic ear (1980s)

Professor Graeme Clark

In 1982, Melbournian Graham Carrick’s cochlear implant was switched on, allowing him to hear for the first time in 17 years. Not only was the recipient Australian but the inventor, Professor Graeme Clark, was as well. The aptly nicknamed bionic ear is a surgically implanted electronic device facilitating sound for the severely deaf. Almost 200,000 people worldwide now enjoy the sense of hearing through this amazing feat of engineering.