Five years ago Lehigh University mechanical engineering professor Joachim Grenestedt had a student who became paralyzed from the waist down after a mountain-biking accident. Grenestedt suggested that his student, Brian Kaplun, try skiing on a monoski like those often used by paraplegics.
Grenestedt, along with technician Bill Maroun, put his engineering expertise to work developing a specially designed ski so Kaplun could take to the slopes. The result was a monoski, a bucket seat perched in a metal frame above a single ski. The skier sits in the seat and steers with the help of outriggers, which are poles that have small skis at the ends.
The Lehigh engineers’ design wasn’t the first monoski ever invented. But they did manage to come up with a type of ski that Kaplun said had a better design and was easier to maneuver than other models on the market.
Surely more than one person could benefit from the design Grenestedt and Maroun developed two years ago. Now Grenestedt’s wife, Chiharu Tokura, is president of a company launched to introduce a new monoski to the general public. That company, DynAccess Limited, is now manufacturing a prototype for a refined version of the design. Testing is expected to take place this fall, with help from other skiers who have disabilities. The company plans to put the monoski on the market in 2012.
Source: Chiharu Tokura, DynAccess Limited
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen