Many people in the United States and other “developed” countries still use wheelchairs that only barely meet their needs; however, in India, the number of people using inappropriate wheelchairs or none at all is enormous by comparison. These facts prompted the Indian government to seek collaboration with National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) and US wheelchair designers to improve the quality of their wheelchairs. The result has been a collaborative design project between HERL and Artificial Limb Manufacturing Company (ALIMCO, the largest wheelchair manufacturer in India) since 2000.

In 2001, representatives from HERL visited the Indian Spinal Injury Center (ISIC) and the ALIMCO manufacturing plant to establish the relationship and begin the design process. They informally evaluated ALIMCO’s current wheelchair design, and established priorities for collaboration. A HERL design team was formed, consisting of Rory Cooper, Mark McCartney, Emily Zipfel, Jeremy Puhlman, Jon Pearlman, and Rosemarie Cooper. By 2004 the design team had built and delivered to ALIMCO the first India Chair prototype, a lightweight, somewhat adjustable, comfortable, easy to maneuver, durable, and reliable wheelchair.

After the 2004 visit , the HERL India design team returned to the drawing board to develop a Tilt-in Space Pediatric Wheelchair for ALIMCO. This type of chair can provide a good option for many children with disabilities who may be unable to independently shift weight and/or do not have the skills necessary to operate a power wheelchair.

In March 2005, the India Design team returned to India to deliver the Pediatric Wheelchair prototype, this time joined by R. Lee Kirby, M.D. from the Nova Scotia Rehab Centre in Canada. While in India, HERL director Rory Cooper also presented features and utilities of wheelchairs to more than 50 people at a program conducted by the Rotary Club of metro Kanpur. The design teams also visited and conducted a wheelchair workshop at the Indian Spinal Injury Center (ISIC) in New Delhi. The ISIC is working towards establishing a graduate school in medical rehabilitation with the guidance from Pitt’s School of Health and Rehab Sciences.

Both the pediatric and manual wheelchair prototypes will bring large scale wheelchair manufacturing to India and give Indian citizens with disabilities affordable and appropriate mobility devices. The manual wheelchair is due to go into mass production in August 2005. The pediatric manual wheelchair should launch in late 2006 in India.

The final phase of the ALIMCO-HERL collaboration planned thus far is to develop an electric powered wheelchair.

The Brazilian Wheelchair Project is intended to transfer information about research conducted at HERL to clinicians and consumers of wheeled mobility in Brazil. This is done by writing a series of articles in Portuguese and English and making them accessible to consumers and clinicians via the HERL website. Currently four articles have been written. Most recently there has been a grant submitted to the Mondialogo Intercultural Dialog and Exchange. The Brazilian Wheelchair Project has been short-listed to the top 40 nominees, 20 of which will be awarded funding.

Engineers for a sustainable world graphic

Engineers for a Sustainable World is a non-profit organization with a network of more than 3000 professionals and students working to reduce poverty and improve global sustainability. Graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Engineering and School Health and Rehabilitation Sciences have started a campus chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World. The students are enthusiastic with the potential to apply their skills to improve the lives of people with disabilities.