Today I have been watching the Paralympics. There are some interesting events that are only in the Paralympics or are modifications of Olympic events.

The event that I have been waiting to see all week was the finals in the rowing. The daughter of friends from church won a silver medal in the PR3 Mixed 4 event.

While watching the Paralympic events I have had a sense of fulfillment from the work that I do.

At Zeiss Meditec we help preserve and enhance the vision of people all over the world with our ophthalmic products. Also, our surgical products, especially our neurological microscopes, help restore or preserve mobility.

As I watch the athletes compete in the Paralympics I think about how our products have helped them.

I really like watching the events for people with vision problems. I know that my work has touched them, no matter what country they are from. I have trained the service engineers from around the world that work on the instruments that either diagnose pathology or help keep track of changes in their vision. These instruments provide information for the doctors as they make decisions that help them preserve the limited vision that they have.

For those athletes that have physical issues, they may have been operated on by a surgeon using a Zeiss surgical microscope.

I could even go beyond our medical division as products from our semi-conductor optics division help create many of the electronic devices that we all use every day. Our lab microscopes are used in medical research that helps many paralympians.  Measuring devices are used in manufacturing to help develop prosthesis or specialty sports equipment.

Lots to think about while watching the Paralympics. Now back to watching some Goal Ball.

Steven