DESIGN: Innovative Assistive Devices and Technologies for Enhanced Independence

PI：Hakansson，NilsProposal编号：1265032背景：威奇托州立大学是一所大都市大学，致力于利用周围社区的人类多样性为学生提供全面的教育。在这种背景下，该大学的工程学院致力于培养学生：i)开展支持和促进当地和更大社区的人的福祉的研究；ii)促进和珍视思想和人的多样性。拟议的项目将创造更多的机会来教育学生，培养与社区的关系，增加多样性，并让年轻的残疾学生有机会接受工程教育。目标：开发和执行高级设计项目，重点是为一般和年龄相关的残疾人士开发辅助技术和设备，并通过作为客户或设计师参与这些项目，展示和招募年轻的残疾学生进入科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域。为实现这些目标，提出了以下目标：1)培训学生在整个产品开发周期(确定需求、设计、原型、测试、建造和制造)；2)促进和发展多学科高级设计团队，开展旨在开发辅助技术和设备的项目，以帮助一般残疾人和与年龄相关的残疾人；3)建立工程学院与服务于残疾人的社区组织之间的关系；4)从大学和更大的社区中寻找、招募和吸收残疾人作为执行/完成设计项目的团队成员，以帮助一般和与年龄相关的残疾人或作为客户；5)通过在大学外展活动中介绍项目，传播信息并提高对年龄和残疾相关问题的认识；6)通过在大学和社区活动中的演讲和示范，招收残疾学生进入工程学院；以及7)建立网站，与广大工程教育界分享产品开发案例和最佳做法。智力优势：拟议的项目将产生定制的工程设备，以提高一般残疾人士和与年龄相关的残疾人士的独立性和生活质量。该项目将在工科学生设计师和残疾人社区之间建立合作伙伴关系，这些残疾人很可能会以不同于典型工科学生习惯的方式行动、交流和思考。通过与代表人数不足的人群的直接接触和与该项目相关的培训，工程专业的学生将了解到，设计不应在“一刀切”的前提下进行。此外，学生将把课堂上的知识应用到他们的设计项目的开发中。广泛的影响：拟议的设计项目将通过让参与的学生接触到残疾社区成员每天面临的挑战来促进他们的教育。学生和客户之间的互动将创建新的关系，并加强大学与周围社区之间的现有关系。将K-12残疾青年作为客户和设计团队成员纳入该计划，将成为向现场展示和招募下一代有能力的工程师的一种手段。

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.