Pride Mobility Products Corp. is collaborating with Metropolitan State College of Denver’s Department of Industrial Design to work closely with Metro State College students on an industrial design project throughout the 2009 Winter Semester

Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the Metro State Department of Industrial Design focuses on product design in manufacturing industries. The Pride collaboration will focus on a class of approximately 15 junior and senior students who will work on design research, ideation and conceptualization, and final presentation deliverables as product exploration with Pride Mobility.

Each student will be assigned a Pride mentor who will assist them throughout the duration of the partnership. The college will grade the students’ projects for the semester, and Pride will have the opportunity to review and comment on all submissions.

“This project is intended to encourage and develop design thinking skills, foster disability awareness, and give students a glimpse of professional life,” says Col Jones, Pride Mobility’s Director of Product Design. “The return on educational collaboration is a future professional who thinks outside of the box, can identify and focus on a consumer and see that their needs are met with exceptionally well designed products.”

Col Jones and Bryan Anderson, Quantum Rehab Spokesperson, visited and spoke with the Metro State Industrial Design students about the collaboration. Bryan, a decorated Iraqi War veteran who was injured in 2005 when his military Humvee encountered an explosive device, resulting in the loss of both legs and one hand, spoke about his disability, as well as how he uses his mobility products on a daily basis, and how mobility products play a critical role in maintaining independence and active lifestyles for people with disabilities. Bryan encouraged the students to consider the many roles a mobility product plays while embarking on their design project.

“We’re excited to work with Pride Mobility in developing new and innovative solutions for manual wheelchairs and power chairs,” said John Wanberg, Assistant Professor of Industrial Design. “In spite of our best efforts, the students get more real-world experience working with outside companies than we have the ability to simulate in the classroom. This type of project opens up the students’ eyes to practical design constraints, but also provides Pride with a different, fresh design perspective.”