Students Win Top Prize For Their Wheelchair Idea

Two Singaporeans students from Singapore's Temasek Polytechnic have recently made some huge news. The two students have won the top prize in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition for their innovative wheelchair idea. The two have developed a new wheelchair product that could help users deal with slope safety, the Elderly Safe Wheelchair.

Stanley Chee Chong Wei and his teammate Felicia Ang Kai Lin have bagged the first prize in the Pre-university/Polytechnic/Institute of Technical Education category in the Samsung-organized competition. The science competition aims to bring a culture of problem-solving through innovation and science by encouraging students to come up with great ideas that can be used to address issues in healthcare and the environment.

Image credit: Softwheel/Youtube screencap

How the new wheelchair works

The two students have come out with a great idea that could reinvent the traditional wheelchair. In a recent interview with the Singapore-based publication The News Paper, the two explained that they decided to work on a low cost, non-electrical wheelchair to address the needs of the wheelchair users. They also added some special features that prevent the wheelchair users from losing wheelchair control when climbing a slope or going down a slope. The two made some good conversation with the media. They even explained to the media how their new wheelchair works.

According to the students, when a wheelchair user climbs a slope, a specially-designed safety feature kicks in automatically, preventing the wheelchair from falling or sliding backward from a slope. When going down a slope, a gravity motion stopper automatically comes in to slow down the wheelchair descend so that it does not go out of control and prevent a fatal accident.

The two have spent two months on the research stage and another two on the prototypes phase. They made their first prototype test at St Luke's ElderCare Centre in Tampines. During the test, they received some feedback and most of the feedback they received was about the weight limit of the new wheelchair product.

The two Singapore students received $5,000 in cash prize and a four day-three night study trip to Korea. Additionally, they also received a one-month internship at Samsung Singapore.