FRANÇOIS CÔTÉ

Co-Inventor & Left Foot Drop Patient

François Côté is a designer in mechanical engineering and naval architecture for Océan de Québec. He has worked in research and development on the design and construction of new fleet tugs. He has been employed by Océan for 20 years and has been involved in the engineering of several bold and far-reaching projects. He was the designer responsible for the Industries Océan shipyard’s new haulage system at L’Île-aux-Coudres. This system has a traction capacity of 600 tons and can pull 3,500-ton vessels out of the water.

François carried out several studies in various fields before finding his way in industrial design and then mechanical industrial design. He began a pure science degree at the CEGEP de Sainte-Foy. He then switched to a Diploma of Professional Studies (DEP) in Architecture and Structure Design. Graduated and recommended by his school in 1989, he was immediately employed by Architects Hudon & Julien and then by Almex in 1990 as draftsman-designer. In 1992, he joined Laval University to complete the pure science courses required for a possible entrance to the bachelor’s degree (BAC) in Mechanical Engineering. In 1994, ready to enter the BAC, he was approached by Océan for a job.  Motivated he accepted the position proposed to him. This naturally guided him to the trade he is currently practicing. During his work, he has mastered the AutoCAD, Mechanical Desktop 3D, Rhino3D, and Excel software as well as other key modern engineering tools.

Since childhood, François has been a sportsman at heart. Passing through hockey and baseball, it is finally in mountain biking and trials biking that he shines. At the age of 21, he was Provincial Trials Bike Champion. Trials biking is an extreme sport that involves climbing obstacles such as logs, rocks, cars and pyramids, without putting your foot on the ground. In 1997 he became an avid runner.

In 2001 Francois suffered a serious snowmobile accident that broke both legs and knees.  This left him with various disabilities, including a full foot drop to the left leg. This accident affected his personal and sporting life but didn’t extinguish his desire to push his limits.