You may not know Gary van Deursen, but you will know some of the products he has invented and designed.

There was the highly successful SpaceMaker line of kitchen products, the redesign of the Dustbuster, and the Stanley MaxLife Tripod flashlights. There are hundreds more, all easily recognizable, and hundreds after that, much less well known.

For van Deursen, solving problems has always been challenging and fun.

For most of his career, he worked for major corporations – vice president of design for Black & Decker, corporate VP for Coleman and The Stanley Works – heading design and innovation teams around the globe. He holds over 60 U.S. and 100 international patents for innovation and design.

“I spent the first part of my career solving problems and designing products to improve a corporation’s sales, designing the better toaster, the better hammer. When I was at Black & Decker and Stanley I led teams that designed hundreds – countless – very successful products,” he says. He enjoyed it. He thrived, if the number of patents he holds is any measure.

For the full story, see the Sept. 22 issue of Valley Courier and go to Zip06.com.