Self-made entrepreneur and passionate advocate for Parkinson’s Disease research, Clyde Campbell will be Cobar’s 2017 Australia Day ambassador.
Mr Clyde stated his working career as an industrial electronics apprentice in country NSW 29 years ago and now runs his own company, Machinery Automation & Robotics.
His team of 70 staff services leading Australian and international clients from offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Mr Campbell’s vision to provide the latest world-leading technology and turnkey automation and robotics solutions to industrial clients looking for a competitive technology edge was the driving force behind his rapid progression from apprentice to CEO.
He has been described as a man who likes to ‘get things done’.
In 2009 at the age of 44, Mr Campbell was diagnosed with Parkinson’s after he noticed a tremor in his left hand when holding notes for a presentation at a company meeting.
When diagnosed with the debilitating disease, the question Mr Campbell asked himself is one that more than 100,000 Australians with Parkinson’s have no doubt asked: “Why me?”
After coming to terms with his prognosis, Mr Campbell set out to learn as much as possible about Parkinson’s and what was being done worldwide to find a cure.
Having an entrepreneurial spirit and a vision for the future, he decided not to sit back and wait for the rest of the world to find a cure but to join the action.
Mr Campbell launched the ‘Shake it up Australia Foundation’ and partnered with The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, to increase awareness in Australia and increase funding towards finding a cure.
Mr Campbell said Australia has some of the world’s leading scientists specialising in Parkinson’s but they need financial assistance to get their research up and running.
And he plans to make sure that happens.
