Engineering Design Projects to Aid Persons with Disabilities: An Engineering-Business Alliance

帮助残疾人的工程设计项目：工程-商业联盟

• 批准号: 1263941
• 负责人: Alan Eberhardt
• 金额: $ 12.46万
• 依托单位: University of Alabama at Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-08-01 至 2019-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1263941&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Engineering; Design; Projects; Aid; Persons

PI: Eberhardt, Alan; Dobbs, JoelProposal Number: 1263941The objective of this proposal is to solicit continued NSF support for design projects to aid persons with disabilities, for undergraduate students in the School of Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). These activities target Biomedical Engineering (BME) students in Senior Design (BME 498/499), as well as general engineering freshmen, who will undertake projects to aid specific disabled individuals or groups of individuals suffering from debilitating neuromuscular conditions and injury recovery. Funding by the NSF-RAPD/GARDE program the past 14 years has led to the delivery of over 50 working prototype senior design projects to aid local clients, and cumulative training of nearly 500 undergraduate students. The current proposal seeks to continue these successes, while introducing a new Business-Engineering Alliance, in which seniors in Business will join the BME seniors to form multi-disciplinary design teams with an emphasis on commercialization of devices. The new co-PI (Dr. Dobbs) will provide mentorship from the business perspective and provide guest lectures on market analysis, business models/plans and commercialization topics. We also propose immersion of students in a manufacturing rotation where they'll gain hands-on experience with state-of-the-art manufacturing of metals and plastics, quality assessment and control, and good manufacturing practices (GMP). To date, projects were completed in partnership with United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Greater Birmingham and their affiliates, Hand-in-Hand and LINCPoint, as well as UAB Hospital, the Bell Center and the Children's Hospital of Alabama, among others. These sources will continue to provide project ideas in coming years; however, with this proposal we introduce a new collaboration with Lakeshore Foundation (Dr. Rimmer) , with an emphasis on exercise activities and monitoring for rehabilitation patients. In BME 498/499, project ideas will result from student rotations with participating clinicians and therapists, who will serve as clients. Prototypes and marketable designs will be developed by teams of upperclassmen working over two semesters. Advisory committees consisting of the PI, individual clients, and physical therapists from the partnering agencies will continue to ensure adequate student supervision for development of novel devices to assist those with disabilities. Freshman design projects (5-6 week duration) will be continued with project ideas from the PI's interaction with clients. A list of potential projects is included in the present proposal. Intellectual Merit:The proposed activities are intellectually meritorious: clinical rotations with participating medical faculty enhance student exposure; ideation-to-invention experiential learning teaches critical thinking and integrates new knowledge with prior learning; and students gain expertise in nearly all Student Outcomes as required by ABET. The new partnership with Business will allow our students to engage in truly multi-disciplinary team-based design. Our new alignment with the Lakeshore Foundation will provide cohesive and engaging hands-on experiences solving modern rehabilitation engineering problems. The manufacturing rotation will provide needed exposure to GMP and will provide enhanced opportunities for sophisticated materials and manufacturing processes. The designs themselves are often novel and will therefore explore creative and original concepts. The fact that the designs are constructed, tested and used by disabled individuals provides meaningful design experiences for engineering students. Our previous success demonstrates sufficient access to resources, and supports the qualifications of the PI and the institution. Broader Impacts:An important benefit is the service to the disabled community, by providing assistive devices at no-cost to the recipients, resulting in improved quality of life. Student experiences are heightened through interaction with their client, and ultimately seeing the fruits of their labor. Project stories are featured in regional news media, high school and community outreach activities, and international symposia. These activities attract regional high school students (large minority population) into math, science and engineering. The BME undergraduate program attracts a high percentage of women and minorities. The proposed efforts pilot a new entrepreneurial partnership between UAB Engineering and Business to turn biomedical devices into commercial successes that are marketed worldwide. The student teams will be encouraged pitch their start-up companies and enter a business plan competition with the Alabama Launchpad, preparing them for a new BME Master's program with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship to continue these multi-disciplinary, entrepreneurial activities.

PI：Eberhardt，Alan；Dobbs，JoelProposal：1263941这项提案的目的是为阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校(UAB)工程学院的本科生继续争取NSF对帮助残疾人的设计项目的支持。这些活动的对象是生物医学工程(BME)高级设计专业(BME 498/499)的学生以及普通工程新生，他们将开展项目，帮助患有衰弱神经肌肉疾病和损伤恢复的特定残疾个人或群体。在过去的14年里，由NSF-RAPD/GARDE项目提供资金，已经交付了50多个有效的原型高级设计项目，以帮助当地客户，并累计培训了近500名本科生。目前的提案寻求继续这些成功，同时引入一个新的商业-工程联盟，在该联盟中，商业专业的前辈将加入BME前辈，组成多学科的设计团队，重点放在设备的商业化上。新的合作伙伴PI(Dobbs博士)将从商业角度提供指导，并提供关于市场分析、商业模式/计划和商业化主题的客座讲座。我们还建议让学生沉浸在制造轮换中，在那里他们将获得最先进的金属和塑料制造、质量评估和控制以及良好制造实践(GMP)的实践经验。到目前为止，项目已与大伯明翰的联合脑瘫(UCP)及其附属机构Hand-in-Hand和LINCPoint以及UAB医院、贝尔中心和阿拉巴马州儿童医院等合作完成。这些来源将在未来几年继续提供项目想法；然而，通过这项提议，我们引入了与Lakeshore Foundation(Rimmer博士)的新合作，重点是锻炼活动和对康复患者的监测。在BME 498/499中，项目想法将产生于学生与参与的临床医生和治疗师的轮换，他们将作为客户。原型和适销对路的设计将由两个学期以上的学长团队开发。由私人投资公司、个人客户和来自合作机构的物理治疗师组成的咨询委员会将继续确保在开发新设备以帮助残疾人士方面有足够的学生监督。新生设计项目(持续5-6周)将继续使用PI与客户互动中的项目想法。本提案中列入了一份潜在项目清单。智力价值：建议的活动在智力上是有价值的：与参与的医学教师一起进行临床轮换增加了学生的接触；从构思到发明的体验式学习教授批判性思维，并将新知识与先前的学习相结合；学生获得了几乎所有学生成果的专业知识，正如教资会所要求的那样。与Business的新合作伙伴关系将使我们的学生能够参与真正的基于多学科团队的设计。我们与湖岸基金会的新联盟将提供具有凝聚力和参与性的实践经验，以解决现代康复工程问题。制造轮换将提供所需的GMP敞口，并将为尖端材料和制造工艺提供更多机会。设计本身往往是新奇的，因此将探索创造性和原创性的概念。这些设计是由残疾人建造、测试和使用的，这一事实为工科学生提供了有意义的设计体验。我们之前的成功证明了我们有足够的资源，并支持了PI和机构的资格。更广泛的影响：一个重要的好处是向残疾人社区提供服务，免费向受助者提供辅助设备，从而提高生活质量。通过与客户的互动，并最终看到他们的劳动成果，学生的体验得到了提升。项目故事出现在地区性新闻媒体、高中和社区外展活动以及国际研讨会上。这些活动吸引了地区高中生(少数民族人口较多)学习数学、科学和工程。BME本科生项目吸引了大量女性和少数族裔。拟议的努力是UAB Engineering和Business之间新的创业合作伙伴关系的试点，目的是将生物医学设备转化为商业成功，并在全球范围内销售。学生团队将被鼓励推介他们的初创公司，并与阿拉巴马州启动板一起参加商业计划竞赛，为他们准备一个新的BME硕士项目，获得创业证书，以继续这些多学科的创业活动。