What started out as a college classroom project in Pasadena has turned into a passion for one Arden-area family.
"It is really a neat program," said 16-year-old Ruth Oliver of her older brother's nonprofit business of making wheelchairs out of bicycles.
After a classmate at the California Institute of Technology came up with the idea of using mountain bikes to build the wheelchairs, Daniel Oliver embraced the concept and started creating a self-sustaining business for the disabled in developing countries.
Though he had graduated, Daniel Oliver continued with the project and has convinced his sister to get involved. The teenager is organizing a fundraising event for the business at Rio Americano High School, where she is a junior and a community service chair in student government.
Daniel's younger brother, Thomas, who is attending the same Pasadena college, is in charge of coming up with prototype designs that are manufactured to different specifications in order to be used by adults and children.
Kirk Oliver, their father and a lawyer, chipped in by drawing up the legal papers to get the business its nonprofit status.
Cathleen Oliver, the mother of the family, helped fine-tune the business' Web site, www.intelligentmobility.org.
"It was the kind of thing that once we got the ball rolling, everybody loved the idea," said Daniel Oliver, who is a board member of the organization, formally called Intelligent Mobility International.
The first prototypes were built in a shop on the Pasadena campus, and after raising about $70,000 in grants, an assembly center is expected to open in Guatemala in March.
"Part of our idea is to hire disabled people. We don't want to just make a wheelchair, we want to help the disabled community in developing countries help themselves," Oliver, 22, said.
Graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering and business, Oliver said the class project was to come up with an idea that used modern-day principles of engineering in something that would benefit developing countries.
"The innovation is in the manufacturing process," Oliver said of the wheelchair design that uses two mountain bicycles per wheelchair.
"A wheelchair for an office or inside a building is not the same as our wheelchairs," he said. "We use mountain bike tires, and our wheelbase is longer, which provides for more stability, and our frame is much stronger."
Also unique is the fabrication process that is intentionally simple so it can be duplicated in areas with limited resources.
"The process uses basic tools that can be found in developing countries," he said of handsaws, drills and welding materials.
"We didn't want it complicated. We have a patent on the process. The bike handlebars go on the back of the chair, and the bike's pedals we use as footrests."
Upon the opening of the assembly center, IMI will work with two Guatemalan organizations – one that already deals with the disabled in Central America and the other that will help with local marketing and fundraising, Oliver said.
About 20 people are involved, including the college professor who conducted the class project. A majority of those are former and current students of Cal Tech.
Thomas Oliver is a junior studying mechanical engineering. "Now that most of the team has graduated, I am the coordinator on campus where the prototypes are still being made," he said.
"We have gone through four different designs, making improvements on safety and mobility features," the 20-year-old added.
Donations can be sent to Intelligent Mobility International, P.O. Box 60075, Pasadena, CA 91116.
Call The Bee's Ramon Coronado, (916) 321-1013.
