This multi-University design project has been to develop a robotic manipulator to assist challenged children who are confined to a wheelchair. The project was begun in the 1996-97 academic year. Each year a new group of students learns from the past and builds on those accomplishments. The leadership for this activity has been Ohio State University with students and faculty advisors from various other institutions, Gateway and others, participating at different times. The design and prototype development is accomplished utilizing concurrent engineering methodology. This process integrates marketing, manufacturing, and design, while using advanced communications systems as a powerful tool to enhance the interaction between teams from the project’s initial conceptualization until the prototype is finished.