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Laurie Tandrup
The road to invention started off as a bumpy one for Laurie Tandrup. Set
to join the family for a weekend reunion, she and her two young boys were
left stranded when her car and all of their camping supplies were stolen.
Insurance covered the cost of a rental vehicle, but not the stolen items,
which included the childrens car seats.
Concerned for her three-month-old sons safety and comfort, Tandrup
devised a system that would gently reposition him so that he would fit
more securely in a larger car seat. The Travelbud prototype proved itself
priceless during the camping trip, and with the approval of her family
physician, Tandrup applied for the patent and went into business, founding
Snuglbuds Inc. in
1996.
Having worked in the health care industry for 15 years,
Tandrup was able to identify that the demand for her product lay with
premature and small infants who did not fit properly into regular sized
car seats and other equipment. While travelling to hospitals around North
America to demonstrate the Travelbud, she identified another unique
positioning need for infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and
Special Care Nurseries. With the co-operation and consultation of many
nurses and therapists, Tandrup designed and patented her second invention,
the Butterfly Support, in 1998.
Tandrup lives with her husband, two boys, two dogs and
a budgie on a farm near Onoway. She is a full-time student, working
towards a degree in education at Grant MacEwan College, and a full-time
mom, volunteering regularly at her childrens school. She enjoys pottery,
leatherwork, reading and crochet and is working towards her black belt in
Kung Fu.
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