At CREATE 2024: A Win for the Disability Community and CP Unlimited
CP Unlimited was proud to partner with two engineering students from Cooper Union University and New York State Industries for the Disabled, Inc. (NYSID) to engineer and pilot an emergency wheel locking device to increase safety and reliability for people who use wheelchairs.
The wheelchair lock functions as an attachable, automatic locking device that enables a safe and immediate stop of a manual wheelchair by locking the wheels if the operator accidentally releases or lets go of the handle.
Students Sarah Heejeong Yang (left) and Michelle Meiner (center), with Melody Baglione (right), Professor and George Clark, Chair of Mechanical Engineering, presented the “Be the Companion” device and a summary of findings at the 2024 NYSID CREATE 2024 Symposium in April and took home Third Place. The placement comes with a $5,000 award by NYSID.
Kwadwo Ofori, VP of Day Services (back, left) and Sebastian Chittilappilly, Chief of Programs (back, right) served as representatives from CP Unlimited and helped facilitate the testing at CP settings with the people we support.
The evaluative criteria included:
Characterizing the need: Do they understand the problem they are trying to solve—who would use the design? Did they consider “real life” use scenarios?
Coordination with NYSID Member Agency: Did the team communicate with people who may benefit from their invention?
Ease of use: Is the invention intuitive for users? If instructions are required, are they easy to understand?
Design solution- How useful is the invention to the NYSID Member Agency and to the people they serve?
