UI grad student wins Lemelson-MIT inventor prize
URBANA – University of Illinois graduate student Scott Daigle has won the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Illinois Student Prize, given annually to an outstanding student inventor on campus.
Daigle, a graduate student in mechanical science and engineering, started IntelliWheels Inc. to add automatic gear shifting to wheelchairs.
His product automatically shifts gears by sensing how hard the wheelchair user is pushing, how fast the chair is going and the tilt of the chair.
Gear shifting adds ergonomic efficiency to the process of going up and down hills, over long distances and over rough terrain.
Daigle figures his product can lessen the chances of wheelchair users developing chronic shoulder pain and debilitating injury.
A finalist for the prize in 2010, Daigle is scheduled to receive the 2011 prize at an awards ceremony Wednesday evening.
Other finalists for this year's prize included Zeba Parkar, a graduate student in materials science and engineering, and Colin Lake, a senior in industrial design.
The prize is administered by the Technology Entrepreneur Center in the UI College of Engineering. It is funded through a partnership with the Lemelson-MIT Program.
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