Dream Solutions

Josiah was born with no arms so riding a traditional bicycle is impossible. Late in 2008, Josiah’s mum Marika called Dreamfit Foundation CEO Darren Lomman for help. Marika wanted to know if there was anything that Dreamfit’s volunteer engineers could do to make Josiah’s dream of riding a bicycle a reality.

Dr Nathan Scott and second-year Mechanical Engineering students from UWA teamed with Dreamfit Foundation to fulfill Josiah’s dream. Some 212 students were grouped into 64 teams participated in a week- long design project to come up with some innovative design concepts.  The students were then encouraged to enter Dreamfit Foundation’s Josiah’s Bicycle Engineering Challenge to translate their design concepts into working prototype bicycles. Six teams of finalists were selected to compete in the challenge. Team entries were then assessed by Edith Cowan University Occupational Therapy Students in terms of suitability for Josiah’s physical needs.  The challenge was endorsed by Engineers Australia and challenge finalists competed for a range of prizes and trophies.  

Josiah chose the winning bicycle design from the 6 presented in the competition, and the winning teams were announced at the Westcare International Day of Disability Breakfast on 3 December 2009. 

The other five bicycle prototypes were presented to Ride Aid for delivery to children in Cambodia with disabilities similar to Josiah.