Ralf Hotchkiss is an inventor and designer whose company,

Whirlwind Wheelchair International A whirlwind is a weather phenomenon in which a vortex of wind (a vertically oriented rotating column of air) forms due to instabilities and turbulence created by heating and flow (current) gradients. Whirlwinds occur all over the world and i ...

, designs wheelchairs for use and manufacture in developing countries, involving wheelchair riders in all of its projects and activities. The organization's mission is "To make it possible for every person in the developing world who needs a wheelchair to obtain one that will lead to maximum personal independence and integration into society."

Career

Following a motorcycle accident in his junior year at Oberlin University in 1966, Hotchkiss became a

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

. Immediately after leaving rehab, Hotchkiss realized how fragile and difficult his wheelchair was to use after hitting a crack in the pavement with the wheelchair, which damaged it to the point of immobility. The crash kickstarted Hotchkiss’ passion for reinventing the wheelchair. Hotchkiss is a 1969 graduate of

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

. Following graduation from Oberlin, he worked for

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...

in Washington D.C. where he founded the Center for Concerned Engineering. Hotchkiss published the design of his

appropriate technology Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing technological choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by locals, decentralized, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and locally ...

wheelchair along with a collection of information designed to guide the start of a small business to manufacture the design. The 1985 book, "Independence through Mobility: A Guide Through the Manufacture of the ATI-Hotchkiss Wheelchair," now available in PDF form through the Center for International Rehabilitation, is an early example of

open design The open-design movement involves the development of physical products, machines and systems through use of publicly shared design information. This includes the making of both free and open-source software (FOSS) as well as open-source hardwar ...

open source hardware Open-source hardware (OSH) consists of physical artifacts of technology designed and offered by the open-design movement. Both free and open-source software (FOSS) and open-source hardware are created by this open-source culture movement and a ...

. Hotchkiss also advocates for disabled people in developing countries after being asked to help a group of disabled mechanics in Nicaragua, where often up to five people would have to share single wheelchair. Since then, Hotchkiss has been working on developing a wheelchair called the RoughRider, which is lightweight, inexpensive, and designed to handle difficult riding conditions. In developing these wheelchairs and open-sourcing his designs, Hotchkiss hopes to create a competitive wheelchair industry around the world. In 1989, Hotchkiss was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.

References

External links

Tough, Low-Cost Wheelchairs Needed in Haiti

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, Feb. 18, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotchkiss, Ralf 20th-century American inventors Living people MacArthur Fellows Oberlin College alumni San Francisco State University faculty American people with disabilities Year of birth missing (living people)