Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Projects for the Disabled

9704215 Eberhardt这笔赠款将用于支持阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校（UAB）机械工程（ME）学生的高级设计项目，以帮助残疾人。项目旨在提供替代的、低成本的、定制设计的设备和软件，直接帮助特定的残疾人或个人群体。它们包括辅助环境控制的设备，增强通信，升降或抓取的电动设备以及结合视觉和听觉警告的报警系统，仅举几例。伯明翰联合脑瘫（UCP）和阿拉巴马州康复服务部（ADRS）提供了项目的想法。此外，还建立了跨uab校园合作，包括职业治疗，西班牙康复，骨科手术和伤害控制与研究中心，他们提供了结合工程和生命科学深度的项目想法。一个由三名成员组成的顾问委员会将确保充分的学生监督和项目设备的质量发展。该委员会将包括项目负责人、一名在项目领域具有专业知识的ME教员，以及一名来自UCP、adr或UAB的合作研究员。事实上，这些设计将被残疾人建造、测试和使用，这将为工程专业的学生提供有意义的设计经验，同时为残疾人社区服务。这种形式的高度可见，资助高级设计项目将作为一个特殊的招聘工具，以吸引更好的学生到UAB工程学院。它将进一步加强工程与UAB医院之间的合作联系，并通过UAB生物医学工程系促进康复工程的计划工业轨道。与当地工业的联系将提高UAB的区域知名度，将增加与当地社区的合作，使双方都受益，并将增加应届毕业生的就业机会。这些联系将有助于在更高层次上从工业、政府机构和基金会筹集资金，以支持这项有价值的工作。* * *

9704215 Eberhardt This grant will support senior design projects to aid persons with disabilities, for Mechanical Engineering (ME) students, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Projects are geared toward providing alternative, low cost, custom designed devices and software that will directly aid specific disabled individuals or groups of individuals. They include devices to assist in environmental control, communication augmentation, motorized devices for lifting or grabbing and alarm systems which combine visual and auditory warnings, just to name a few. Project ideas have been provided by United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Birmingham and the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS). In addition, a cross-UAB-campus collaboration has been established including Occupational Therapy, Spain Rehabilitation, Orthopedic Surgery and the Injury Control and Research Center, who have provided project ideas which combine depth in both engineering and life sciences. A three-member advisement committee will ensure adequate student supervision and quality development of the project device. This committee will include the PI, one ME faculty with expertise in the project area, and a collaborating investieator from UCP, ADRS or UAB. The fact that the designs will be constructed, tested and used by the disabled individuals will provide meaningful design experience for the engineering student while serving the disabled community. This form of highly visible, funded senior design projects will serve as an exceptional recruiting tool to attract better students to the UAB School of Engineering. It will further strengthen the collaborative link between Engineering and the UAB Hospital and promote a planned industrial track in Rehabilitation Engineering through the UAB Department of Biomedical Engineering. Links with local industry will improve regional visibility of UAB, will increase cooperation with the local community to the benefit of both, and will increase employment opportunities for graduating ME seniors. These same links will serve to leverage funding at greater levels from industry, government agencies and foundations to support this worthwhile effort. ***