Max Kohl

Immigrant, veteran, inventor

Born in Switzerland in 1913, Max moved with his family to Texas at an early age. His ingenuity was fostered by a lack of resources growing up, and lead to his career as a motorcycle mechanic and steel worker. Having survived World War II, where he served as a military police officer, he came back to the states with a new lease on life. Over the next several years he devised his own diving gear, built propeller-driven ice boats, and pioneered parasailing using an enormous kite he fabricated himself, all before they were commercially available. Max passed away in 2007 at 93, only a year after giving up motorcycling. Max Kohl Design + Product Services was founded on the principles, and devotion to inquisitiveness he lived by and passed down.