Assessing MAARDEC: A Comparison with Other Assistive Device Workshop and Disability Organization Models (Innovations Case Discussion: MAARDEC) Open Access

Amos G. Winter is a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He has conducted multiple projects aimed at generating improved wheelchair technology in the developing world, including assessing the state of wheelchair technology in Tanzania. He is the director of the MIT Mobility Lab (M-Lab) and teaches the MIT class “Wheelchair Design in Developing Countries”.

Amy Smith is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she specializes in engineering design and appropriate technology for developing countries. She founded the D-Lab program at MIT, which introduces students to technological, social, and economic problems of the Third World. She teaches the courses “D-Lab Development”, “D-Lab Design”, and “Wheelchair Design in Developing Countries”. Smith won the Lemelson-MIT student prize in 2000, and was recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship (2004-2009). She served four years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana.