For nearly two decades, SF State professor and paraplegic engineer Ralf Hotchkiss has devoted his life to ensuring that people in developing countries who are in need of wheelchairs have access to them.

In 1989, Hotchkiss started a wheelchair design and construction class at SF State. The class, held Tuesday evenings in the science building, is open to both SF State students and the community as part of the College of Extended Learning. Through hands-on experience, students learn how to design and build wheelchairs for the different terrains of various countries around the world.

“This class is really one of the College of Extended Learning and [SF State’s] greatest courses,” said Richard Kay, director of Special Sessions College of Extended Learning.

Every time the class completes a successful wheelchair prototype, the chairs are sent to wheelchair shops around the world. This is part of Whirlwind Wheelchair International, a program of the Center for Civic and Community Engagement at SF State founded by Hotchkiss and now retired SF State engineering professor Peter Pfaelzer.

“We don’t give the wheelchairs we make to individual people, that’s not enough,” Hotchkiss said. “We give them to a group of people as an example in countries all over the world. We provide the possibility to supply as many wheelchairs as needed.”

Since it was founded, Whirlwind Wheelchair International has set up wheelchair shops in 45 countries with the aim to give mobility to people who have never had access to it before. These shops supply much needed jobs and assemble wheelchairs out of local materials.

Each chair is designed with critical thought about the location and conditions where it will be used and is tested to meet Whirlwind Wheelchair’s own strict code of standards.

“Chairs are designed for off-road and rough conditions,” said Andrew Flurry, a participant in the wheelchair design and construction class. “[Hotchkiss] seems to be in tune to the actual needs of people in developing countries.”

Students in Hotchkiss’ class don’t spend the entirety of their class sessions simply learning about the technical art of building wheelchairs, they also get a little taste of what life is like as a wheelchair user.

When class begins at 6:30 p.m., the students hop into wheelchairs and take a ride down to the Cesar Chavez Student Center for a dinner break. On the way there, they explore the different terrain and get a feel for what it is like using a wheelchair in everyday situations.

“It’s been an eye opening experience using a wheelchair in this class,” said Taylor Fitzgerald, a graduate engineering student at SF State. “Encountering everyday kind of things - little bumps in the road, the way people treat you, trying to get through a cafeteria line - it’s all very challenging.”

Hotchkiss has a different view of wheelchairs and the challenges that they sometimes present.

“We don’t think of these things as medical objects, we think of them as hot rods,” Hotchkiss said.

Hotchkiss has several goals for the students who take his class.
“My students who aren’t wheelchair users get to learn welding, sewing, and how to work with steel while contributing to something bigger,” Hotchkiss said. “As far as my students who are wheelchair users, I want them to know how great wheelchairs can be. I want them to know they can do anything they can think of.”

For information about volunteering for Whirlwind Wheelchair International, visit http://whirlwindwheelchair.org/getinvolved.htm.