An Invention driven by love
Gary Kurek’s Rollator Wheelchair Hybrid
Sept. 9, 2008 – After Gary Kurek’s grandmother was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, he watched her deteriorate from “a strong, independently mobile woman to an extremely weakened and fatigued person with little ability to walk.”
He could hardly look as she struggled with an assortment of assistive tools to get around.
“On many occasions when I saw her use these assistive tools I couldn’t help but point out the flaws of these devices before even seeing their benefits,” he says.
He decided to invent a mobility aid that would make it easier for his grandmother and other incapacitated persons to move around and he turned to the Prototype Development Program at NAIT for help.
Gary came up with the Rollator Wheelchair Hybrid - a motorizing kit that can be attached to four- wheeled mobility walkers or ‘rollators’ of varying design.
When attached, the kit enables the rollator to be used as a walker for exercise and lower body rehabilitation as well as for a convenient electric wheelchair for use when a user becomes tired.
The kit allows a user to switch in-between functions with very little to no assistance.
Rollator being brought to life at NAIT
The design and construction of the final prototype is underway in the Duncan McNeill Centre for Innovation at NAIT and should be completed by mid October 2008.
“Our Team is completing the design for a universal kit that will attach to the top three selling walkers in North America. Given the existing client base and the response from walker manufacturers, the potential of this product is huge,” says David Burry, prototype development coordinator.
Gary says he likes the idea of working with “a very reputable research institute and knowing that I am learning and working with some of the best people in the technology, engineering and product development fields.”.
His Rollator Wheelchair Hybrid is one of several inventions that are being developed at NAIT through the Prototype Development Program and the Duncan McNeil Centre for Innovation.
Since opening in April 2006, the Prototype Development Program has helped more than 75 inventors like Gary.