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Colin Murdoch 1929 - 2008

Colin Murdoch was born in Christchurch February 6, 1929. Despite his dyslexia he had a natural affinity for chemistry and mechanics and after leaving St Andrews College, trained as a pharmacist.

He moved to Timaru in 1954 to establish a pharmacy there and in 1957 married Marilyn Tregenza with whom he had three sons and a daughter. He soon found that his pharmacy training was also required by non-human patients and added veteraniarian to his resumé.

Colin Murdoch died May 4 2008 at 79 years old from a cancer first diagnosed in 1991.

Major inventions

Colin Murdoch held patents on more than 40 inventions including:

The Sterile Prefilled Disposable Hypodermic Syringe

Of all his inventions this one has probably had the most impact around the world. Every day people were being cross-infected by the re-use of hypodermic syringes. His initial idea came from looking at a fountain pen and the first patent was awarded in 1956. Health department people told him that the idea was ahead of its time and as yet there was no need for it. Murdoch's invention is now used by millions every day in hospitals and clinics around the world.

Tranquilising dart gun

The dart gun and automatic syringe projectiles were developed in the 1950s, the first patent being awarded in 1959. Murdoch established a company, Paxarms, in Timaru to manufacture and export various dart guns around the world. He also experimented with the various drugs used in the projectiles to find those which would tranquilise the animal with least risk.

Silent burglar and fire alarm

Patents for a silent burglar alarm, electrical wiring system and heat detection cells for fire were filed in 1966. The system initiated a phone call to a police or other number. Although never put into production many modern fire / burgular alarms work on the same principle.

Child-proof bottle cap

Murdoch's design was based on the lack of strength and co-ordination in young fingers and he even had a version that would enable disabled adults to open the bottle.

Awards and Recognitions

1975: Governor General's Export Award for the Sterile Prefilled Disposable Hypodermic Syringe.

1976: honoured at the World Inventors Fair in Brussels for his child-proof bottle cap design.

1999: named as one of the 100 most influential people in the South Pacific by Time magazine.

2000: made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to inventing.

2007: featured in a series of New Zealand Post stamps, "Clever Kiwis", celebrating five inventors.

Find more information

Library books etc. featuring Colin Murdoch.

Web sites

• Aristotle: heroes: Colin Murdoch
• The New Zealand Edge: heroes: Colin Murdoch
• Wikipedia: Colin Murdoch

News sources

• 'Clever Kiwi' inventor dies, Timaru Herald, Monday, 5 May 2008, Stuff.com
• Papers search - use the links at the bottom of the left column of each article to search for the full-text of that article

Sources

• Bob Riley, Kiwi ingenuity, 1995 AIT Press, Auckland
• Timaru inventor had world impact, The Press, 2008 May 10, p. D19
• Keast, John. Patent genius, The Press, 2000 July 8, Weekend p. 5
• The New Zealand Edge: heroes: Colin Murdoch