Sometimes good things come from the ashes of a terrible war. Hence the story of “Project Paperclip” and how a Moraine businessman helped thousands of amputees.
After World War II ended, convinced that German scientists could help America’s postwar efforts, President Harry Truman in September 1946 authorized “Project Paperclip”, a program to bring select German scientists to work on America’s behalf during the “Cold War”. Over 1,600 Germans were relocated to America (Photo #1).
Hans Mauch was one such person. Mauch had been a civilian engineer at the German Air Ministry from 1935 to 1939 and later acted as a consulting engineer for his own company. In 1946 he was recruited as a “Paperclip Scientist” and moved to Dayton, Ohio where he was employed at the Aeromedical Laboratory of the Wright Air Force Development Center. He left the Laboratory in 1957 to set up his own organization which was incorporated in 1959 as Mauch Laboratories Inc. on Dryden Road in Moraine. Mauch Labs engaged in research, development and manufacturing in the biomedical engineering field. The U.S. Air Force awarded Mauch the Outstanding Inventor Award in 1960.
Except for a classified project to develop a space suit for the Air Force and NASA, Mauch Labs main work until the mid-1970’s was devoted to rehabilitation projects. Mr. Mauch is recognized for developing the Hydraulic Knee Control System (Mauch SNS), a stance and swing hydraulic leg for above knee amputees.
Hans Mauch was a prolific inventor, a pioneer in prosthesis work, holding more than eighty patents on innovations that contributed to many fields including aviation and medicine. He passed away in 1984 at age 78.
That wraps up our quick look at Mauch Laboratories in Moraine and Hans Mauch.
