Following a motorcycle accident in his junior year at Oberlin University in 1966,[2] Hotchkiss became a paraplegic.[3][4] Immediately after leaving rehab, Hotchkiss realized how fragile and difficult his wheelchair was to use after hitting a crack in the pavement with the wheelchair, which damaged it to the point of immobility. The crash kickstarted Hotchkiss’ passion for reinventing the wheelchair.[5] Hotchkiss is a 1969 graduate of Oberlin College.[6] Following graduation from Oberlin, he worked for Ralph Nader in Washington D.C. where he founded the Center for Concerned Engineering.[4][7]
Hotchkiss published the design of his appropriate technology wheelchair along with a collection of information designed to guide the start of a small business to manufacture the design. The 1985 book, "Independence through Mobility: A Guide Through the Manufacture of the ATI-Hotchkiss Wheelchair,"[8] now available in PDF form through the Center for International Rehabilitation,[9] is an early example of open design or open source hardware. Hotchkiss also advocates for disabled people in developing countries after being asked to help a group of disabled mechanics in Nicaragua, where often up to five people would have to share single wheelchair. Since then, Hotchkiss has been working on developing a wheelchair called the RoughRider, which is lightweight, inexpensive, and designed to handle difficult riding conditions. In developing these wheelchairs and open-sourcing his designs, Hotchkiss hopes to create a competitive wheelchair industry around the world. [10]
In 1989, Hotchkiss was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.[11][12]
