Making the Difference: An Industrial Engineering Capstone Design Experience to Benefit Adults with Disabilities

提案：1403753PI: Mendez-Pinero， Mayra i .标题：Making the Difference: a Industrial Engineering Capstone Design Experience to Benefit with disabilities成年残疾人残疾人有许多特殊需求，工程师有潜力做出巨大贡献，提高他们的生活质量。波多黎各-马亚圭斯大学工业工程系（IE- uprm）提议为高级工业工程（IE）学生提供基于团队的设计经验，重点是帮助残疾和视力受损的成年人。为了实现提出的目标，设计项目将在几个非营利机构开发，这些机构为感兴趣的群体提供服务或就业。与机构合作确定了10个设计项目，以设计和实施原型，这些原型将促进独立和自我保健，改善残疾人的安全和生活质量，增强他们的功能，开发和改进治疗设备，并提高盲人或视障工人的生产力。典型的IE顶点设计项目通常集中在服务业或制造业。很少有学生专注于这里提出的项目。学生将有机会与卫生保健专业人员互动，并扩大他们对IEs对人类生活质量的贡献的理解。学生还将有机会增加他们在与设计过程相关的法律和道德问题方面的知识。通过这些经验发展的新知识将通过演讲、会议等传播成果，对其他社区产生影响。这将传达信息，它应该对工程大学在规划顶点课程项目策略时使用的过程产生影响。研究团队教授各种应用设计项目的课程，具有丰富的指导和指导本科生在岛上进行项目的经验。由于IE顶点课程的内部后勤，该部门包含支持拟议研究项目所需的基础设施和协作网络。该提案的一个关键组成部分是将多个形成性和总结性评估活动结合起来，以评估单个项目的成功、学生在经验和知识方面的收获以及拟议工作的成功。通过设计项目，学生将发展技术和专业技能，为专业实践做好准备；培养意识，考虑与设计项目相关的道德、法律和社会问题；用实际生活中解决问题的经验来补充教育过程，并将早期课程的原则、方法和技术整合到解决问题的情境中。学生将获得对残疾成人需求的认识、敏感性和知识，拓宽他们的工业工程知识。每年将开展三个项目，参与的学生将在课堂上与同事和社区分享他们的项目，从而扩大影响。作为少数民族服务机构，拟议的项目将扩大西班牙裔本科生参与研究活动。为了扩大传播，加强科学和技术的理解，这项研究工作的结果将通过在国家会议、部门网站、波多黎各辅助技术计划、校园新闻和当地新闻论坛上的演讲来传播。其他分享调查结果的网站有：残疾人就业政策办公室、残障网站和国家残疾与康复研究所。

Proposal: 1403753PI: Mendez-Pinero, Mayra I.Title: Making the Difference: An Industrial Engineering Capstone Design Experience to Benefit Adults with DisabilitiesAdults with disabilities have numerous special needs and engineers have the potential to make great contributions and improve their quality of life. The Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (IE-UPRM) proposes to provide a team based design experience for senior Industrial Engineering (IE) students focusing on outreach to aid adults with disabilities and the visually impaired. To achieve the proposed objective, the design projects will be developed at several nonprofit institutions that offer services or provides employment for the groups of interest. Ten design projects have been identified in collaboration with the institutions to design and implement prototypes that will foster independence and self-care, improve the safety and quality of life of individuals with disabilities, augment their functional capabilities, develop and enhance therapeutic devices, and increase productivity for the blind or visually impaired workers.Technical DescriptionTypical IE Capstone design projects are usually focused on service or manufacturing industries. Rarely, students focus on projects proposed herein. Students will have the opportunity to interact with health care professionals and expand their understanding on the contribution IEs can have on the quality of life of humanity. Students will also have the opportunity to increase their knowledge in the legal and ethical issues related to the design process. New knowledge developed through these experiences will have an impact on other communities by dissemination of results through presentations, conferences, etc. This will convey the message and it should have an impact on the process used by engineering universities in their planning of the capstone course project strategies. The research team teaches various courses requiring applied design projects and possesses ample experience supervising and mentoring undergraduate students while conducting projects in the island. As a result of the internal logistics of the IE Capstone Course, the department contains the infrastructure and collaboration network needed to support the proposed research projects. A key component of this proposal is the incorporation of multiple formative and summative assessment activities to evaluate the individual project success, student gains in experience and knowledge, and success of the proposed work.With the Design Projects students will develop technical and professional skills to be prepared for the practice of the profession; develop awareness and consider ethical, legal, and societal issues relevant to a design project; complement the educational process with real life problem solving experience and integrate the principles, methods, and techniques of earlier course work into a problem solving situation. Students will gain awareness, sensibility and knowledge on the needs of adults with disabilities, broadening their IE knowledge. With three projects to be run each year the impact will be magnified as participating students will share their projects in the classroom with their colleagues and the community. As a minority serving institution, the proposed projects will broaden the participation of Hispanic undergraduate students in research activities. In order to broaden dissemination to enhance scientific and technological understanding, results from this research work will be disseminated through presentations at national conferences as well as in the departmental website, the Puerto Rico Assistive Technology Program, campus news and local news forums. Additional websites to share the results are: the Office of Disability Employment Policy, Disability.gov, and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.