Johan Steenwyk – pioneer of CAD

20 years ago we first presented Johan Steenwyk in our German journal "Orthopädieschuhtechnik". Steenwyk had emigrated from The Netherlands to Canada and become one of the pioneers of CAD within orthopedic shoe technology. He remained true to this technology which is today the center of his business.

The tradition of shoemaking dates back to the 18th century in the Steenwyk family. Johan Steenwyk himself learned the trade of an orthopedic shoemaker still in his native country, The Netherlands, before he set off for Canada.

After having gathered experience in a clinic workshop and in a company in Edmonton, he founded his own company in Red Deer, in Western Canada. He soon received orders for orthopedic custom-made shoes. What Steenwyk did not have yet were specialized staff that could help him make the shoes in his workshop. Thus he had to look for new technologies that could support him. He found a partner with Vorum Research from Vancouver, a company that looked for appliers of their last-CAD at that time, at the beginning of the 90s.