Michael Piersa, Warsaw University of Technology
Fourth-Year Mechanical Engineering Student Michael Piersa led a team of fellow students to design maneuverable, self-balancing wheelchair, aptly named the “Wheelchair for the 21st Century.” Autodesk recognized this outstanding innovation by naming Michael winner of the Autodesk Inventor Student Design Contest. What’s so different about this wheelchair? Using Inventor Professional and Autodesk® AliasStudio™, Michael and his team designed it to maintain a vertical position without using its auxiliary wheels. The innovative frame design and transmission create a new level of stability and maneuverability. For people living with paralysis or debilitating disease, this design could make daily life and mobility much easier. And the wheelchair looks like it came straight from the future, too, with fly-out rims and more. “We wanted to completely rethink traditional wheelchair design and create a new level of functionality,” says Michael. “With Autodesk® Inventor™ Professional, we were able to fully explore our ideas and focus on the specific problems we were trying to solve, rather than spending time solely on the 3D geometry required to build the design.” Michael submitted the design as part of the Autodesk Inventor Student Design Contest, which was launched in January 2007. Winners were announced in May. Michael was also named the Autodesk Inventor of the Month in June 2007 for his innovative vision and desire to use design to build something that changes the world. Visit the Student Engineering & Design Community to start downloading free* software and submitting your own designs today. |
