A group of engineering students at the University of Glasgow has designed and built on off-road wheelchair that is capable of climbing grassy hills and off road terrain.

The prototype wheelchair is to be presented to the Firrhill Day Centre in Edinburgh where it will give users greater freedom to roam.

The project to build the off - road wheelchair started three years ago as a student's final year engineering project. Each year a different student has worked on a new aspect of the wheelchair and the project was completed last month.

Recently graduated Andrew Gunstone was the final student to work on the wheelchair. The former mechanical design engineering student developed an innovative gimbal which had been designed at an earlier stage which helps control the movement of the upper bodies when sitting in the wheelchair.

The 22-year-old from Cults, Aberdeenshire, said: 'It was a very rewarding project to be part of. It was a real challenge in taking on a design with a view to improving it. Having the wheelchair completed is a great feeling. You see the fruits of your labour. I would love to see some aspects of the design incorporated into a product that could become widely available on the market.'

The wheelchair has been off - road tested and after some initial teething problems is now performing well with a top speed of 3mph. It has an aluminum frame to prevent corrosion and has been spray painted blue. The design is such that the chair is adaptable to fit the majority of users.

The project was funded by the Audi Foundation who donated £5,000 over two years. Professor Matthew Cartmell oversaw the four students working on the project ﾖ Rory Wilkonson, Diogo Phillimore, Rohan Corlett and Andrew.

He commented, 'The four students have designed and built an off-road wheelchair which fulfils everything it was set out to do. All in all it was a great success.'

Linda Gibson for the Firrhill Day Centre said: ' We are looking forward to putting this new wheelchair through its paces here at the Centre. There is no doubt that it will allow greater access to areas that would otherwise be out of bounds for regular chair users. I hope that it can be used during the rest of the summer months - perhaps even in our lovely Pentlands.'

Andrew who graduated with a 2.1 degree is now working for Goss Innovations, a design consultancy based in Devon.

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)

You are invited to send a photographer / reporter to The Firrhill Day Care Centre, 257 Colinton Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1DW at 2.00pm on Wednesday 30 July for the handover .

Please let the Press Office know if you plan to attend on 0141 330 3535

First published: 29 July 2003