WORCESTER, Mass. — When it comes to innovation, Massachusetts has a pretty impressive track record.
Inventions like the internet, the birth control pill, Facebook, and basketball all got their start here.
Now three local college students are advancing that trend by winning a national award for inventing a better wheelchair.
They developed a relatively simple device that transforms a manual wheelchair into one that’s powered by a portable battery.
“Disabled individuals look to power wheelchairs for their freedom and their independence, but today’s power wheelchairs are big, heavy, bulky, and overall inconvenient to use,” said Arav Tyagi, a Boston University student.
Tyagi joined forces with Worcester Polytechnic Institute students Antonio Marzoratti and Ivan Zou to create PAWE which stands for “Portable Affordable Wheelchair Enhancer”.
This device is lightweight and snaps into position just behind the back of a wheelchair.
Two small wheels then engage with the wheels of the wheelchair to power the chair.
The user then snaps a hand controller in place.
“Arav and I were both just thinking of things we could do because we really wanted to come up with something that could help people, and we knew some people that needed electric wheelchairs, and it was a really big burden,” said Marzoratti.
Zou added, “We spoke with a bunch of people in wheelchairs to confirm they had the problem that we assumed they had.”
In November, the three budding entrepreneurs took their invention to Tampa for the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Pitch Competition.
They beat out 600 other entrants from around the country to win first prize.
“That feeling was really good, a big, huge crush of adrenaline and it was like, oh my god, I can’t believe that happened,” said Marzoratti.
“The other companies there were incredible,” said Tyagi. “I mean they were all working on really world-changing stuff.”
“It’s actually huge for us to send our students to this national competition,” said Rosanna Garcia, the Beswick Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at WPI. “We’re really excited that we did have the winning team.”
Garcia says her program tries to get students to think about how their innovations can impact real-world problems.
The engineering trio is now incorporated, calling themselves Technotonin.
As the company grows, its mission is clear.
Marzoratti said the focus is to keep the device affordable and accessible to as many people as possible.
“Our end goal is to start a company with the purpose of helping people have a happier healthier life.”
Tyagi said that as they worked on this issue, their commitment to finding a solution grew stronger.
“At some point, this became not just something that we want to do, but something of an obligation. We had to do this because now there are so many people that we know that can significantly improve from our advancements in technology.”
This commitment and curiosity didn’t just appear overnight.
Tyagi and Marzoratti have been working together, and tinkering, for years.
They were best friends at Franklin High School and were co-presidents of the Robotics Club.
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