A group of students from Northeastern University is trying to make the lives of people better. It draws students from across disciplines and areas of study, where they work through the design process together, with guidance from professors and professionals in the Boston area and around the country. Sometimes it takes several tries to get a project to work; students may have to make small design adjustments or start over from scratch.
Kevin Leiser, a fifth-year student studying electrical engineering at the Northeastern University is working with a team of his peers to build a system that would enable visually-impaired individuals to aim and fire a bow on their own. According to Leiser, they wanted to make a device that enables blind archery shooters to shoot with some sense of accuracy, while giving them some sense of independence while shooting. The device was just one of the projects displayed by undergraduates at the Northeastern annual showcase. Other projects included a modified exercise device that will play music when students use it, encouraging them to keep pedaling; a clamp to help a woman with muscular dystrophy put her hair into a ponytail with one hand; and a sensory tray with interesting objects that can be attached to a wheelchair to keep with the attention of a client with cognitive disabilities.
Amanda Haines, a third-year mechanical engineering student, with group is working on a project to build a device that would enable their client to learn to play guitar with one hand. The original prototypes, which were designed to hold down the strings in different chord shapes while the client strummed, hadn’t been successful.
“There’s no solution that you’re guided to. You’re just given a problem and then you have to run with it from there”, Haines says.
Shahjadi Jemim Rahman
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