Juan José
Medina

His previous profession was in the world of haute cuisine. His first culinary school experience involved work placements at the Ritz Hotel chain in Barcelona and Paris, luxury 5-star hotels. There he began specialising in different aspects of the restaurant business, and his professional career continued to develop in Spain and abroad in top notch restaurants in Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Milan and Rome.

In 1982, he opened his own restaurant in Barcelona, which he ran for 9 years, and there was mention of being awarded a Michelin star until his sight forced him to leave the profession.

Over this entire period, he took part in different national and international culinary competitions, and was the youngest member of the Chefs Club of Catalonia, and academic member of the San Humber Wine Tasting Academy in the Penedes wine region, Barcelona.

In 1991, he headed to the Canary Islands to manage another of his companies specialising in the wholesale importing and distribution of food products for the hotel and restaurant sector but in 1997, his sight deteriorated, and he was forced to sell the company.

From that moment on, his interest in universal accessibility grew, taking part in courses at ONCE (Spanish Organisation for the Blind) to adapt to his new life without sight and applying new technologies to heighten his senses.

In 2004, he was asked to collaborate in the development of a Web App. (MÓVIL VIRTUAL) with data operator LLEIDA.NET, a global accessible SMS service with which the visually and hearing impaired can send text messages from their computers to mobile phones and receive replies via email which can then be read using a Braille display.

In 2008, he started collaborating with PUNTODIS in the R&D department for advanced accessible new products and technologies. He is currently Trade Manager for Latin America at PUNTODIS S.L.

Return to the list of speakers