Mechanical engineering graduate student Jonathan Vander Wiel was recently recognized for his research on efficient wheelchair design.
Vander Wiel, who is currently in the third semester of his MS in mechanical engineering at ISU, received $1,000 for the paper he and his colleagues at LeTourneau University presented at the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) student scientific papers competition in Washington, D.C. last July. The paper was entitled “Exploring the Relationship of Rolling Resistance and Misalignment Angle in Wheelchair Rear Wheels” and the research was part of the team’s senior design class.
Vander Wiel competed for LeTourneau University’s Frontier Wheelchairs senior design team which in collaboration with Guatemala-based Hope Haven International aims “to improve existing wheelchair designs to serve the needs of wheelchair users,” particularly in the developing world. He graduated with his BS in mechanical engineering from LeTourneau University in 2015.