UConn engineering students Mitchell DuBuc, James Welch, and Alex Draper are researching the science behind ROWHEELS wheelchair technology.
“You’re much stronger pulling than pushing naturally so why not apply that to a wheelchair,” said DuBuc, a UConn senior who is a paraplegic and gets around by wheelchair himself.
In the weeks and months ahead, the team will tested the new wheelchair wheels on a number of different wheelchair bound people with all different types of afflictions.

…… the overwhelming benefit is the propulsion system’s preventative and therapeutic potential. Rowheels has succeeded in developing a unique line of products that have been shown to relieve shoulder pain by strengthening opposing muscles that are activated by pulling instead of pushing.

For decades, retailers served as the go-between for manufacturers and consumers, offering the former access to local markets and the latter expert advice and value-added services. In recent years however, there has been a growth in the number of manufacturers adopting a direct-to-market approach, selling directly to consumers rather than through the traditional retail network.

Rowheels’ new leader, Gaurav Mishra, a former fighter pilot in India’s air force, has served in the top ranks of major global prosthetic and medical device companies in Europe. One of those companies doubled its sales in six years to more than $1 billion under his direction.

At first glance, the Rowheels Revolution 1.0 wheelchair looks like just another wheelchair, albeit a little slick. However, what its looks don’t tell you is that it is designed from scratch to provide greater comfort, extended mobility, and  reduces problems from shoulder, elbow, wrist injuries,  user fatigue, and maneuverability that come from pushing.

To help steer the company in its new direction, it brought on Gaurav Mishra earlier this month as CEO. Mishra, who is a former fighter pilot in India’s air force, comes from leadership roles at major global prosthetic and medical device companies, such as Touch Bionics and OttoBock Healthcare.

In the shop with local wheelchair company Rowheel. They said they’ve invented a new technology that alleviates the muscle strain of a traditional chair by changing the motion you use to make the chair go. Instead of pushing forward, you pull back

A Middleton company hopes to change the wheelchair industry with its new technology. Rowheels started in 2016 producing wheels to attach to other chairs. The wheels work by the user pulling backwards on the rim, allowing for better posture and more distribution of muscle use.

ROWHEELS Debuts Revolution 1.0 Featuring “Pull-Wheel” Technology

The Rowheels Revolution’s maintenance-free patented geared drive technology is said to help strengthen upper body and reduces the risk of shoulder, elbow and wrist injuries

Ex-Ottobock sales boss heads up new direct-to-consumer wheelchair venture

New wheelchair aims to disrupt US market with direct-to-consumer model before global rollout

ROWHEELS: NASA engineered wheelchair could be major challenge to the industry

ROWHEELS, a developer of innovative manual mobility tech, announced the introduction of the ROWHEELS Revolution 1.0 – the world’s first production wheelchair to incorporate patented “pull-wheel” technology.

 “ROWHEELS Revolution gives wheelchair users a better option at an affordable price via an e-commerce platform that challenges the inefficiencies of today’s healthcare system.”

Designed and assembled in the USA, the competitively priced wheelchair will be sold direct to consumers as part of the vision of its new CEO, Gaurav Mishra…..

Manual mobility tech firm appoints new CEO and announces disruptive direct-to-consumer model for innovative wheelchair product

The ROWHEELS Revolution will be available in October, pre-orders can be placed on the ROWHEELS web store starting at just $999.

Rowheels Revolution 1.0 – The Right Way To Roll | The Wheel Of The Future

The brainchild of NASA engineer and wheelchair-user Salim Naser, ROWHEELS’ unique wheel design allows users to propel themselves forward using a pulling (or rowing) action rather than the traditional pushing motion.

ROWHEELS Introduces Affordable Next-Gen Wheelchair

I’d say it was high time to reinvent the wheelchair. Especially, when you consider the manual push wheelchair was first (recorded) invented in 1783 by John Dawson, of Bath England. And, the first X-frame, foldable model was designed in 1932 by Everst and Jennings. Of course, wheelchair versions did modify over the years but the wheeling engineering process required to propel it forward stayed consistent.

It was in 2010 that we first heard about a set of ergonomic wheelchair wheels that let users move their chairs forward by pulling back on the handrims – ordinarily, of course, they would push forward on the rims. Six years later, the technology has moved from prototype to product, with the Rowheels REV-LX wheelset hitting the market just last week.

Take a Madison entrepreneur, put him in a situation outside his comfort zone, and just watch him figure out a novel way to approach it.That’s what led to the creation of Rowheels, a Fitchburg company rolling out its invention: Rev1, a new type of wheels for manually operated wheelchairs.

A special, reverse gearing system lets Rowheels’ Rev1 wheels move a wheelchair forward by pulling back on the wheels, Rowheels cofounder and CEO Rimas Buinevicius says. The company has gotten a $1.5 million investment from WISC Partners.

Rebuilding The Wheelchair: Reinventing Wheels…….If you could custom-build a new wheelchair from scratch, what would it look like?   It’s something we’ve been pondering as we look back at the stylish wheelchairs, accessories and parts we’ve covered over the years. We want to know what the perfect wheelchair looks like in 2014 and how it works. So, in the next couple of weeks we’re going to look into what parts we’d use to assemble the best possible wheelchair.

MEET THE NASA SCIENTIST WHO’S REINVENTING THE WHEEL

On a roll: Madison’s RoWheels could revolutionize the $2 billion manual wheelchair market

Rowheels of Madison wins 2012 Governor’s Business Plan Contest

2010 Create the Future Design Contest Grand Prize Winner: Rowheel Wheelchair Propulsion System