Here’s a red letter day in the history of wheeled mobility- The birth of the modern electric wheelchair.

More accurately, the birth of the first successfully working electric wheelchair in the 1950s.

There had been a number of electric wheelchairs designed prior to this one but George J. Klein and his team of engineers, designers, clinicians, and consumers came up with the first practical and consistently functional electric wheelchair (powered wheelchair and motorized wheelchair were names applied later on).

The credit goes to our Canadian neighbors who identified a need to mobilize post World War 2 quadriplegic veterans who at the time needed to be pushed from place to place by others. This project was truly an effort in radically improving independence and mobility for people who could not propel a manual wheelchair.

Considered to be Canada’s most profilic 20th century inventor, Dr. Klein’s numerous inventions included: the electric wheelchair for quadriplegics; the microsurgical staple gun; a wide range of industrial gearing systems; and internationally important innovations in aviation and space technologies.

The National Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Paraplegic Association, and Canada’s Department of Veteran Affairs collaborated to come up with a functional electric motor propelled wheelchair. Yet, there is much more to this project than most people are aware of. This project was one of the first to truly utilize an inclusive approach as part of the project plan. It was one of the first, if not the first, formal undertaking that could truly be considered as a “Rehabilitation Engineering” project.

Engineers, designers, clinicians, and consumers were all involved in the project. Consumers and clinicians would input into the process and the engineers would design the various wheelchair components to satisfy the identified needs. A back and forth process between the groups until ultimately a working product was developed that satisfied all parties.

While today’s power wheelchairs utilize miniaturized components and various types of user interfaces, the basic technological configuration has not changed a great deal. It still comes down to a user interface, controller, drive system, and power source.

Just as important as the technology developed was the methodology. The formal inclusion of clinicians and consumers in the process. A process that today’s wheelchair industry should give some consideration to.