Professor Stephen Hawking is looking for an assistant. Originally, the job was to be for a technician who can maintain and troubleshoot his computerized voice system -and that's still the most important part of the job description.
The updated job description also says the assistant will help with travel arrangements, lecture preparations, and dealing with the press. Travel is required. The position is funded by the University of Cambridge. Link to story. http://www.hawking.org.uk/index.php/component/content/article/96 to job description. -Thanks, Shaun!
An informal job ad posted to the famed physicist's website said the assistant should be computer literate, ready to travel, and able to repair electronic devices "with no instruction manual or technical support."
Hawking has long struggled against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease which left him almost completely paralyzed.
He lost his real voice in a tracheotomy in 1985, but a wheelchair-mounted computer helps synthesize speech by interpreting the twitches of his face. The synthesizer's robotic monotone has become nearly as famous as Hawking himself, but the computer — powered by batteries fastened to the back of Hawking's wheelchair — isn't just for speaking.
It can connect to the Internet over cell phone networks and a universal infrared remote enables the physicist to switch on the lights, watch television, or open doors either at home or at the office.
The updated job description also says the assistant will help with travel arrangements, lecture preparations, and dealing with the press. Travel is required. The position is funded by the University of Cambridge. Link to story. http://www.hawking.org.uk/index.php/component/content/article/96 to job description. -Thanks, Shaun!
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