The reverse-engineering idea developed by Maciejowski in the context of model-based predictive control is applied to the redesign of continuous-time compensators as intermittent controllers. Not only does this give a way of designing constrained input and state versions of continuous-time compensators but also provides a method for turning continuous-time compensators into event-driven versions. The procedure is illustrated by three examples: an event-driven PID controller relevant to the human balance control problem, a constrained version of the classical mechanical vibration absorber of den Hartog and an event driven and constrained vibration absorber.