DESIGN: Innovative Assistive Devices and Technologies for Enhanced Independence

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PI: Hakansson, NilsProposal Number: 1265032Background: Wichita State University is a metropolitan university with a commitment to providing a comprehensive education to its students by utilizing the human diversity of the surrounding community. Within this context, the university's College of Engineering is committed to preparing students to i) conduct research that supports and contributes to the well- being of persons in the local and larger community and ii) foster and value diversity of ideas and people. The proposed project will create additional opportunities to educate students, cultivate relationships with the community, increase diversity, and expose younger students with disabilities to opportunities to pursue an engineering education.Goal: Develop and execute senior design projects focused on developing assistive technology and devices for persons with general and age-related disabilities and to expose and recruit young students with disabilities to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields through participation in these projects as clients or designers. To accomplish these goals, the following objectives are proposed: 1) train students in the total product development cycle (identification of need, design, prototyping, testing, building and manufacture); 2) promote and develop multi-disciplinary senior design teams that pursue projects directed towards the development of assistive technology and devices to aid persons with general and age-related disabilities; 3) establish relationships between the College of Engineering and community organizations that serve persons with disabilities; 4) identify, recruit, and integrate persons with disabilities from the university and larger community as team members in the execution/fulfillment of design projects to aid persons with general and age-related disabilities or serve as clients; 5) disseminate information and increase awareness of age and disability-related issues through the presentation of projects at university outreach events; 6) recruit students with disabilities into the College of Engineering through presentations and demonstrations at university and community events; and 7) establish website to share for product development cases and best practices with the engineering education community at large.Intellectual Merit: The proposed project will generate custom engineered devices to increase independence and quality of life for persons with general and age-related disabilities. The project will create partnerships between engineering student designers and the community of persons with disabilities who, in all likelihood, will move, communicate, and think in ways that are different than typical engineering students are accustomed. Through the direct contact with underrepresented populations and the training associated with this project, the engineering students will obtain an understanding that design should not operate on the premise that "one size fits all". Additionally, the students will apply their classroom knowledge to the development of their design projects.Broader Impacts: The proposed design projects will advance the education of the participating students by exposing them to challenges that members of the disability community face on a daily basis. The interactions between the students and clients will create new and strengthen existing relationships between the university and the surrounding community. The inclusion of K-12 youth with disabilities into the program as clients and design team members will serve as a means to expose and recruit the next generation of capable engineers to the field.