RoWheels, a company that has developed a mechanism to change how wheelchairs are propelled by their users, won the grand prize in the 2012 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, organizers announced Wednesday.
RoWheels, led by Rimas Buinevicius and Jan Moen of Madison, worked with a NASA engineer to create a geared wheeling system that allows a wheelchair to be pulled forward by its user rather than the traditional pushing motion. The technology requires less effort by users while reducing strain on shoulders, joints and muscles.
“The primary reason we took this project on was the ability to build it in Wisconsin with manufacturing expertise we already have here,” said Buinevicius, who spent eight weeks in a wheelchair following an accident.
Salim Nasser, a NASA space engineer, drew on 15 years of experience in a wheelchair to help design the mechanism.
The awards were announced at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Milwaukee, where the top 12 contestants squared off in making oral presentations on their plans. In all, 248 entries were received in January from contestants in more than 75 communities.
The RoWheels was the first-place winner in the Advanced Manufacturing category of the contest. Other category winners were:
• Business Services: Style Shuffler, a licensed “white label” mobile application for retailers to improve customer experience in making clothing and accessory selections.
• Information Technology: Strategic Fishing Systems, which is using patent-pending innovation in geographic information systems to develop Contour Elite, which can predict fish locations.
• Life Sciences: Reza-Band, a product of Somna Therapeutics, a medical-device company focused on improving the quality of life for people suffering from extraesophageal acid reflux.
