Dr. Jesse Owens Wins National Recognition for the “Skeeter” Assistive Device
 

Dr. Jesse Owens Wins National Recognition for the “Skeeter” Assistive Device

By: Staff   Jun 26, 2007

Dr. Jesse Owens, Associate Professor in the WWAMI Biomedical Program and the Department of Biological Sciences, received the Appropriate Technology Design Award for 2007, taking 1st place in the overall category.  His Skeeter is essentially a low-cost motorbike for wheel chair users.

The RESNA Appropriate Technology Design Competition 2007 seeks to encourage the creation of inexpensive appropriate technology for people with disabilities living in developing nations or impoverished areas of the world.

Judging criteria to select finalists included:
  1. importance (need for this device),
  2. cost,
  3. availability of materials and technology,
  4. innovation and creativity, and
  5. potential effectiveness. 
Ten finalists were then judged by a Peoples Choice evaluation at the RESNA 2007 Conference in Phoenix on June 15-19, 2007.

The Skeeter is a motorized low-cost wheelchair transporter constructed from a combination of inexpensive and familiar bicycle parts (wheels, handle bars etc), a custom built frame, and an inexpensive 49cc 2-cycle engine from China. To permit a wide range of wheelchair users to operate the device, a novel wheelchair lock-down is incorporated, which provides rock-solid immobility of the wheelchair.  A fold-down seat can be incorporated for others who are disabled (amputees, etc.) but do not use a wheelchair as well.  The Skeeter gives a wheel-chair user the independence to travel to work, school, job training or anywhere else, without assistance and at about 10 mph. Importantly, the Skeeter can be produced inexpensively for about $200 and can be repaired in developing or impoverished areas of the world.

Dr. Owens has a long history of innovative, low-cost design for assistive devices.  He works on a regular basis with organizations in Cambodia and elsewhere to provide designs that can be manufactured at local sites with readily available materials in order to provide low-cost assistive devices while simultaneously creating jobs.  

Dr. Owens is also the Senior Science Advisor for the Australian Spinal Cord Society where his activities center on stem cell research.  For further information, he can be reached at afjlo@uaa.alaska.edu.