Engineering Design Projects to Aid Persons with Disabilities: Experiential Learning for Undergraduates

University Of Alabama At Birmingham, Birmingham AL

Investigators

Abstract

0752344 Eberhardt The objective of this project is for undergraduate students in Biomedical Engineering (BME), Mechanical Engineering (ME), and Material Science & Engineering (MSE) at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) to undertake design projects to aid specific disabled individuals or groups of individuals suffering from debilitating neuromuscular conditions and injury recovery. Previous funding through the NSF-RAPD program has led to the successful completion of numerous innovative projects and the training of over 200 under¬graduate students in the past ten years. The current project seeks to build on this foundation through a freshman-level Introduction to Engineering course and the capstone Senior Design, while expanding into new ?experiential learning? activities. They include internships, the Science and Technology (S&T) Honors Program and BME Honors Research. Many of the projects will be undertaken in partnership with United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Birmingham and their affiliate, Hand-in-Hand, a daycare facility that accommodates both typical children and those with disabilities. In addition, UAB Hospital, the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Children?s Hospital of Alabama are also recipients of student designs. The project is constantly seeking new collaborators to provide project needs and ideas and judge and/or test the resulting designs or prototypes. The two levels of design activities represent different levels of academic preparation, intellectual sophistication and project complexity and duration. Advisory committees consisting of the PI, individual clients, physical therapists and relevant professionals from the partnering agencies will help ensure adequate student supervision for develop¬ment of novel devices to assist those with disabilities.