PATRICIA CLOHERTY:CAPITAL GAINS

During a visit to a biotech company, Patricia Cloherty noticed a can opener attached to a wall, enabling the user to open a container without any reflex action. In the “clean room” atmosphere of these facilities, where handling volatile materials is commonplace, it made sense. But her initial reaction was decidedly low‐tech. “I thought, 'What a great product for people with arthritis,” she recalls. Over time, the can opener's inventor did, indeed, market it to disabled people who couldn't get a grip on a tool whose maneuverability is taken for granted.