Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology-NEWS

An enterprising biomedical engineering project by three Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology students for the Knox County Association for Retarded Citizens (KCARC) has earned the 2006 National Scholar Award for Workplace Innovation and Design from the NISH, a national nonprofit agency whose mission is to create employment opportunities for people with severe disabilities.

Making A Difference: Developing a tag stamping device that aids persons with disabilities for the Knox County Association for Retarded Citizens were Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology senior biomedical engineering students (from left) Megan Lafferty, Kara Jackson and Megan Whitaker.

Seniors Kara Jackson, Megan Lafferty and Megan Whitaker designed a tag stamping device that aids persons with disabilities to affix a lot number on military clothing manufactured at KCARC’s facility in Vincennes, Ind. The device allows persons to perform a job that they would not normally be able to complete, improves the person’s self-worth and quality of life, and increases the person’s income potential.

The Rose-Hulman design team will receive $10,000 and be honored at NISH’s National Training and Achievement Conference on April 30 to May 2 in Chicago. KCARC and Rose-Hulman’s Department of Applied Biology and Biomedical Engineering will also be awarded $10,000.

In preliminary testing, the device made it possible for more number of people with disabilities able to perform the stamping task at KCARC. A person with severe hand tremors, who couldn’t work in the tag stamping area previously, processed three tags within a two-minute period by using the device.

"We (Rose-Hulman team members) were very excited when we saw the impact that our project could have on people’s lives. It was very rewarding," stated Megan Lafferty, a senior biomedical engineering major from Bismarck, N.D.

"We were hoping that if we could help people with tremors, we could help others as well," added Megan Whitaker, a senior biomedical engineering major from Alexandria, Ind.

Kara Jackson, a senior biomedical engineering major from Jeffersonville, Ind., added, "Knowing that we were helping others made this project so worthwhile."

Currently, the task of stamping tags is completed by persons with full use of both hands and steady hand movement. The process consists of a standard ink pad and stamp that the person uses to stamp the lot number onto the tag for U.S. Navy dress slacks and extreme cold weather clothing. The person isolates the tag with one hand, presses the stamp on the ink pad and then places the stamp on the tag.

The tag stamping device designed and developed by Rose-Hulman students features a large box-shaped Plexiglas casing, with a tapered slot, one button, one aluminum lever and a self-inking stamp. The button is pressed by the employee to activate the stamping process, and the tag can be inserted into the slot. Correctly positioning the tag disrupts the light beams of two opto-interrupters, which activate a clamp to hold the tag in place. At this point, the employee’s hand is freed to push down the large lever to stamp the tag. As the lever is pressed down and then released, this motion actuates a lever switch, which releases the clamp.

The device meets all of the needs originally identified by KCARC officials, including size constraints, being able to operate with one hand, printing the lot number on the tag, specific ink requirements, low force requirements and cost. The device, which was designed after 16 different testing procedures during its seven-month development cycle, was developed and assembled for $200, using volunteer and student labor. The device could be reproduced for $655.

"The opportunities this device opens are tremendous," admits Bob Harbison, KCARC’s director of manufacturing. "The device breaks down barriers, allowing people with severe disabilities to work in the tag stamping area. These people can now learn skills that can open up other opportunities for them in the future."

Currently 2,300 articles of clothing are stamped at the KCARC facility each day.

The only intervention by KCARC supervisors will be when the lot number needs to be changed, which occurs once or twice a week. A window in the device’s casing allows for persons to reach in and change the lot number on the stamp and add ink to the stamp’s pad.

NISH established the National Scholar Award to encourage students to design creative technological solutions to overcome barriers that prevent people with disabilities from entering or advancing in the workplace. The competition is open to any student or team of students at the graduate or undergraduate level for workplace technology designs covering computer access, environmental accommodations, functional control and access, and communication assistance.

The tag stamping device was one of four projects completed this academic year by senior biomedical engineering students. Each project is assisting KCARC clients to expand their work skills, according to Mike Carney, president of the agency which has more than 200 persons working at four facilities throughout Knox County, located approximately 70 miles south of Rose-Hulman.

"Rose-Hulman students have the creativity and problem-solving skills to make a difference for our operations," said Carney, who recently testified in Washington, D.C., about the importance of the NISH National Scholar Award program. "There’s tremendous opportunity for the development of future projects. I have asked to expand our relationship with Rose-Hulman for next year. It has been very beneficial for both sides in the first year and should get even better in the future."

Working on the project allowed the students to apply skills learned in the academic environment to a real-world project, according to Jackson.

"We now realize that we are good designers and can tackle a problem, no matter how complicated," Whitaker added.

Jackson and Whitaker plan to continue their biomedical engineering educations in the cardiac device field at the Arrhythmia Technologies Institute, formerly the Pacemaker Systems Technology School, in Greenville, S.C. Lafferty will be a sales engineer for the Trane Company in Fresno, Calif.

Rose-Hulman Biomedical Engineering Professors Glen Livesay and Renee Rogge coordinated the senior biomedical engineering design projects. Wayne Padgett, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and David Fisher, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, also lent valuable assistance with the tag stamping project’s instrumentation and design. Technicians Gary Burgess, Mike Fulk, Albert McGarvey, Roger Sladek and Ben Webster helped with fabrication, construction and testing of the device.