Peter Chamberlain ’14 | University of Portland

Peter Chamberlain ’14

Peter ChamberlainFounder and CEO, WalkWise

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Minor: Music 

“I took advantage of every opportunity that was available at UP. I was chair of the engineering student advisory committee, chapter president of Tau Beta Pi, a senator for UP’s student government, and a member of the Honors Program, the University Singers, and Jazz Combo.

I studied abroad in Salzburg and completed two internships where I designed and tested mechanical devices. My engineering classes were small enough that I was able to interact and collaborate with all my mechanical engineering classmates. In fact, WalkWise was founded with two fellow UP alumni after graduation, and we were fortunate to have the University’s LaunchPad fund as our first investor. 

I’ve always enjoyed designing products and wanted to create something that makes people’s lives better. Seeing one of my professors work on simple yet effective solutions for people with Parkinson’s disease got me thinking about assistive technologies. Three of my grandparents used walkers, which sparked the idea for WalkWise: a smart walker attachment. It promotes senior independence while sending safety and health alerts directly to families and caregivers.

The access to labs and dedicated professors in Shiley Hall proved to be invaluable and was a great foundation for my graduate studies at MIT. I started working on technologies for older adults during my senior design project at UP, and it has led to an innovative startup that I am proud to lead.”

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