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

0752344 eberhardt这个项目的目标是让阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校（UAB）生物医学工程（BME）、机械工程（ME）和材料科学与工程（MSE）专业的本科生进行设计项目，以帮助患有衰弱性神经肌肉疾病和损伤恢复的特定残疾人或个人群体。在过去的十年中，通过NSF-RAPD计划的先前资助已经成功完成了许多创新项目，并培养了200多名本科生。目前的项目旨在通过新生水平的工程入门课程和顶级高级设计课程在此基础上建立，同时扩展到新的？经验学习吗?活动。其中包括实习、科学技术荣誉项目和BME荣誉研究。许多项目将与伯明翰的联合脑瘫协会（UCP）及其附属机构Hand-in-Hand进行合作，Hand-in-Hand是一个日托机构，既可以容纳普通儿童，也可以容纳残疾儿童。此外，UAB医院，阿拉巴马州康复服务部和儿童？阿拉巴马州的医院也是学生设计的接受者。项目不断寻求新的合作者来提供项目需求和想法，并判断和/或测试最终的设计或原型。这两个层次的设计活动代表了不同层次的学术准备、智力成熟度、项目复杂性和持续时间。咨询委员会将由项目负责人、个人客户、物理治疗师和来自合作机构的相关专业人员组成，将帮助确保充分监督学生开发帮助残疾人士的新设备。

0752344EberhardtThe 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 CerebralPalsy (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.