Calgary's TOM Makeathon develops 'life-changing' tools for people with disabilities

Young engineers have built a lift to help a quadriplegic man get in and out of bed, and designed a cane with a gripper for a woman with Parkinson's. Both builds werepart of a 72-hour Makeathon in Calgary this weekend.

"It's life changing," said Ben Haines, 29, who was paralyzed from the shoulders down nine months ago, after he dove into a pool in Mexico and crunched his spine.

A team of young engineers mostly university students and recent graduates spent the last month working on a portable, collapsible lift that helps Haines go from hiswheelchair to a bed and vice-versa.

They came together for a final 72-hour Makeathon in Cochrane on Saturday and Sunday, to complete the device for Haines.

"It would open up a whole bunch more possibilities for places for me to go, things for me to see," said Haines, who now plans to visit Canmore, where his sister runs a hotel.

This is the second year the Makeathon has been held in Calgary currently the only Canadian city to host the challenge organized by the Israeli non-profit group Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM).

TOM started in Tel Aviv and has spread to Australia, Brazil, Vietnam and the U.S. and to name a few locations.

"Essentially TOM puts together teams of designers, engineers, makers, people with problem solving abilities, and we pair these teams with a person living with a disability," said Richard Lushai, who brought TOM to Canada.

Tikkun Olam is a Hebrew word that means 'repairing the world', so the concept is that you should leave the world a little bit better than you found it, Lushai says.

Sunday's seven teams were given access to 3D printers, laser cutters and other tools to come up with a prototype for their solutions which ranged from mechanical items to smartphone apps.

One team designed a cane that can grab things for 79-year-old Rose Austin, to stop her from falling out of her chair as she reaches for things.

"I drop everything,my hand just doesn't close properly, so I lose things," said Austin, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2002.

"This cane will be able to pick it up for me, which will just be wonderful because when I reach down to get it, 'Whoops I'm out,'" she said.

The team also built a light into the cane, so Austin can better see where she's going.

"They had to meet every week, so what better place than our dining room? We had a family grow up around that table and this just brought back really good feelings," Austin said, adding that the team members now feel like family to her.

Interested candidates can apply for the next Makeathon challenge through the TOM website.

"We at TOM believe that just because the market demographic isn't there, that need doesn't become less important," said Haines.

Plans for the solutions developed will be shared after the event, so anybody can access them, he said.

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