When Jeremy King was concerned about how he could safely walk and perform other activities while carrying his newborn child, he and his wife, Chelsie, turned to Matt Zigler, who teaches a class called “Making for Social Good” at Bullis High School. Zigler took on the project with his students,who were asked to see if they could design a product that would attach to Jeremy’s wheelchair.
The 10 students began by interviewing the family to better understand the user’s experiences and then spoke to specialists in infant car seat installation.
After brainstorming and developing a range of distinct ideas, the students selected two projects that addressed the issue in different ways. As teams, they focused on “successfully making the best product” they could. This resulted in: the WheeStroll Stroller Attachment, which could attach an infant car seat to Jeremy King's wheelchair, and the WheeStroll Stroller Connector, which could fasten an entire stroller to a wheelchair.
"Children grow out of car seats, and we wanted Mr. King to be able to walk with his son at any age," one of the students said.
The students tested their products and frequently checked in with the Kings to get feedback and information. The project goal was not only to assist the King family but also to create an affordable and accessible design that could be replicated in MakerSpaces around the world to benefit other families.
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