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Expanding work opportunities for disabled persons,
providing alternative energy sources for medical devices and developing
an instrumented martial arts vest were among innovative projects that
were completed by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology senior biomedical
engineering students this academic year.
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| Assisting
Others: Creating an assistive mobility device for an
employee at the Knox County Association for Retarded
Citizens were Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology senior
biomedical engineering students (from left) Laura Telezyn,
Krystal Altmann, Alexandra Jantzen and Bernadette
Brown-Clerk. |
Eight projects were displayed during the Department of
Applied Biology & Biomedical Engineering's senior project presentations
on campus this month. Each project will also be presented to corporate
or community agency clients later this spring.
A thread trimming device, Shirt Master 3000 machine,
assistive mobility device and tag stamping device were developed to help
improve the lives of employees for the Knox County Association for
Retarded Citizens (KCARC). The agency received support from NISH, a
national nonprofit agency whose mission is to create employment
opportunities for people with severe disabilities.
Employees can use the hand-held trimming device to cut
threads to less than one-quarter of an inch from the seams on shirts
produced at KCARC's military clothing manufacturing facilities in
Vincennes, Ind. Currently, employees use small scissors to trim the
threads. It's a painstaking process that excludes employees with hand
tremors.
The compact device, which features a series of rollers
and blades, can be used by employees while standing or sitting, is very
lightweight and durable, offers great mobility, and can be produced at
low cost (approximately $97.80 -- much less than the original $150
budget.)
Most importantly, during testing, the device had an 86
percent success rate in trimming threads on the first pass across a
clothing's newly-sewn seam. And, a KCARC employee with severe hand
tremors could easily use the device, with minimal training.
"The smile on the employee's face helped us realize that
we had developed the proper device," stated Byron Sanders, from
Indianapolis. Other team members included Anna Guy of Martinsville,
Ind.; Raymond Muskeyvalley of Rock Island, Ill.; and Josh Tranter of
Staunton, Ill.
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| Helping
Hands: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology senior biomedical
engineering seniors (from left) Byron Sanders, Raymond
Muskeyvalley, Anna Guy and Josh Tranter created a device
that trims threads off military clothing produced at the
Knox County Association for Retarded Citizens’ manufacturing
facility near Vincennes, Ind. |
KCARC employees and administrators were also happy with
the Shirt Master 3000, a device that will help employees, through simply
pushing a lever, to turn shirts right side out before packaging. The
product, featuring a series of gears and belts, offers one-hand
functionality, usability by employees of various levels of disability
and conveniently fits on a table top.
Currently, employees have to manually pull the arm
sleeves back through to the correct position.
"We kept looking at the task (turning shirts inside out)
and asking, 'there has to be an easier way to get this done'. And,
fortunately, we came up with a mechanical process that, with very little
training, works," said Adam Haste, from Argos, Ind. He was assisted by
Bryan Woodard of Indianapolis.
An assistive mobility device, specially designed for a
female KCARC employee, serves as a four-wheeled walker and an ergonomic
seat. A motor allows the seat to be raised to a height that makes it
easier for the employee to stand up. The device has greatly improved the
employee’s walking speed and allows her to turn around with little aid
from others.
"Being able to help someone gives you a great sense of
accomplishment," said Alexandra Jantzen, from New Albany, Ind. "We kept
striving to improve the device because we knew how important it will
play in her life."
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Demonstrating Product: Adam Haste, a senior biomedical
engineering student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology,
demonstrates how the Shirt Master 3000 device will assist
Knox County Association for Retarded Citizens’ employees in
turning military shirts right side out during the production
process. The shirts must be turned right side out
– previously a
painstaking and timely process –
before being packaged for shipping. |
Other members of the design team were Krystal Altmann of
Minneapolis, Minn., Bernadette Brown-Clerk of Broomfield, Colo., and
Laura Telezyn of Terre Haute, Ind.
A tag stamping device helps aid persons with
disabilities to affix a lot number on clothing. The device earned the
2006 National Scholar Award for Workplace Innovation and Design from
NISH. (Click
here to read more about the device.)
"Frankly, the devices that Rose-Hulman students came up
with have exceeded our expectations. We're delighted and so are our
employees," admitted KCARC President Mike Carney, who sought out the
opportunity to work with Rose-Hulman this academic year. "The students
took our ideas and brought them to reality. Now, we have to come up with
more ideas for next year."
In other student projects, developing an instrumented
martial arts vest was Katie Harrigan of Woodstock, Ill., Rachel Logan of
Fairless Hills, Pa., and Anne Sluti of Kearney, Neb. Developing an
alternative energy source for medical devices was Ron Anthony of Terre
Haute, Greg Lyons of Pendleton, Ind., and Josh Markham of Salem, Ind.
An in-shoe shear measurement device was designed by Abby
Knox of Gibsonia, Pa., and Matt Wittstein of Indianapolis. Developing a
horseshoe crab photoreceptor device was Todd Brittain of Terre Haute and
Chris Nowacki of Rockford, Minn.
The biomedical engineering senior design course was
coordinated by professors Glen Livesay and Renee Rogge.
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