BACKGROUND
Beginning in the latter half of the last semester (Fall 2012), ASME was contacted by V-LINC, a volunteer organization composed of mainly of retired engineers, scientists, managers, and other gifted people who served in successful careers in STEM, but were not ready to stop using their talents.
V-LINC specializes in funding, organizing, doing and delegating projects to students that "create technological solutions to improve the independence and quality of life for individuals of all ages with disabilities in Maryland".
See V-LINC's webpage here: http://www.v-linc.org/
V-LINC representative, Dr. Andy Conn, a former Johns Hopkins professor who has always maintained an interest in using technology to aid disabled members of our community (http://www.jhu.edu/jhumag/0298web/tech.html) proposed a project to UMBC, and ASME responded.
ABOUT HANNAH
From her intelligent speech and go-lucky personality, one would never suspect that 12 year-old Hannah is at all hindered by a severe form of osteogenesis imperfecta - brittle bone disease.
http://www.v-linc.org/recent-news/item/349-hannahs-bed
Weighing only 29 pounds at the beginning of this project, tiny Hannah lives at home with her mother and is taking several advanced classes with a tutor, because she is unable to go to school for fear of breaking her fragile bones. Already, she has broken well over 100 bones in her short life! For each one, she must wear casts and wait for the bone to heal, just like anyone else who has ever broken bones. In fact, her bones are so fragile, that she is unable to walk or sit upright for long periods of time.
Instead, she navigates her house by distributing her weight by scooting across the floor. She can do this quite quickly! And she's also able to ascend inclines up to 17 degrees.
Open "Hannah's Ramp's Project" in http://my.umbc.edu/groups/asme/documents
After developing a specialized reclining chair/bed, V-LINC, solicited UMBC's Mechanical Engineering students to develop two additional ramps for her, so that she can reach her bed and the toilet independently. Now, she is forced to ask her mother to pick her up in both of these instances, but like any other 12 year-old, she desires and deserves some independence.
ASME's PROGRESS
ASME's team of engineers has progressed rapidly from brainstorming to prototyping to analysis to acquisition of materials and construction. After displaying their designs through CAD, the Hannah's Ramps team decided on a final design with V-LINC's input and approval. Over winter break 2012-13, several team members took the initiative in experimenting with several materials to determine the method in which the layered walls should be made. After creating a successful prototype (complete with deflection analysis), the team searched the markets and their contacts for a distributor from whom they could buy enough materials to construct both ramps.
As of March 2013, they are in the process of buying materials and hope to begin fabricating the final ramps in the next few weeks.
ASME IS INTERDISCIPLINARY
Our central mission for the 2013 year is to encourage interdisciplinary cooperation, a sense of community, and diversify team skill-sets in order to achieve better quality in our research projects. In addition to the mechanical engineers on the team, we are proud be collaborating with an amazing UMBC graphic designer that is helping the Hannah's Ramps team perfect the aesthetic quality of the furniture by proposing components including a white board, chalkboard, magnet board, or customizable decorative trim that Hannah can design and play with herself.
Hannah's Ramps Project meetings take place on Fridays during free hour between 12:00-1:00PM in the Mechanical Engineering Conference Room in the ME wing of the Engineering Building. Please join us if you're interested in contributing or listening to the project's progress!
Beginning in the latter half of the last semester (Fall 2012), ASME was contacted by V-LINC, a volunteer organization composed of mainly of retired engineers, scientists, managers, and other gifted people who served in successful careers in STEM, but were not ready to stop using their talents.
V-LINC specializes in funding, organizing, doing and delegating projects to students that "create technological solutions to improve the independence and quality of life for individuals of all ages with disabilities in Maryland".
See V-LINC's webpage here: http://www.v-linc.org/
V-LINC representative, Dr. Andy Conn, a former Johns Hopkins professor who has always maintained an interest in using technology to aid disabled members of our community (http://www.jhu.edu/jhumag/0298web/tech.html) proposed a project to UMBC, and ASME responded.
ABOUT HANNAH
From her intelligent speech and go-lucky personality, one would never suspect that 12 year-old Hannah is at all hindered by a severe form of osteogenesis imperfecta - brittle bone disease.
http://www.v-linc.org/recent-news/item/349-hannahs-bed
Weighing only 29 pounds at the beginning of this project, tiny Hannah lives at home with her mother and is taking several advanced classes with a tutor, because she is unable to go to school for fear of breaking her fragile bones. Already, she has broken well over 100 bones in her short life! For each one, she must wear casts and wait for the bone to heal, just like anyone else who has ever broken bones. In fact, her bones are so fragile, that she is unable to walk or sit upright for long periods of time.
Instead, she navigates her house by distributing her weight by scooting across the floor. She can do this quite quickly! And she's also able to ascend inclines up to 17 degrees.
Open "Hannah's Ramp's Project" in http://my.umbc.edu/groups/asme/documents
After developing a specialized reclining chair/bed, V-LINC, solicited UMBC's Mechanical Engineering students to develop two additional ramps for her, so that she can reach her bed and the toilet independently. Now, she is forced to ask her mother to pick her up in both of these instances, but like any other 12 year-old, she desires and deserves some independence.
ASME's PROGRESS
ASME's team of engineers has progressed rapidly from brainstorming to prototyping to analysis to acquisition of materials and construction. After displaying their designs through CAD, the Hannah's Ramps team decided on a final design with V-LINC's input and approval. Over winter break 2012-13, several team members took the initiative in experimenting with several materials to determine the method in which the layered walls should be made. After creating a successful prototype (complete with deflection analysis), the team searched the markets and their contacts for a distributor from whom they could buy enough materials to construct both ramps.
As of March 2013, they are in the process of buying materials and hope to begin fabricating the final ramps in the next few weeks.
ASME IS INTERDISCIPLINARY
Our central mission for the 2013 year is to encourage interdisciplinary cooperation, a sense of community, and diversify team skill-sets in order to achieve better quality in our research projects. In addition to the mechanical engineers on the team, we are proud be collaborating with an amazing UMBC graphic designer that is helping the Hannah's Ramps team perfect the aesthetic quality of the furniture by proposing components including a white board, chalkboard, magnet board, or customizable decorative trim that Hannah can design and play with herself.
Hannah's Ramps Project meetings take place on Fridays during free hour between 12:00-1:00PM in the Mechanical Engineering Conference Room in the ME wing of the Engineering Building. Please join us if you're interested in contributing or listening to the project's progress!
