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N2⎮TORONTO STAR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 ON ON1

ENGINEERING EXCITEMENT

Right about now, in undergraduatelabs and classrooms around Ontario,students putting finishing toucheson submissions to the Council ofUniversities’ third annual Innova-tive Designs for Accessibility (IDeA)competition. IDeA offers a chancefor creative minds to come up withcost-effective and innovative solu-tions to roadblocks for people withdisabilities at school and in the com-munity. This past year, 18 Ontariouniversities participated.

“When I go to the conference and Imeet the students and they’re ex-plaining what their idea is, they’re soenergized by it,” says Andrew Hry-mak, dean of the faculty of engineer-ing at Western University.

Hrymak, involved with the compe-tition’s working group, says the stu-dents have thought not just aboutwhat legislation requires or what theneeds are, “but also in terms of whatthey can do and how they can make adifference for people who need thataccessibility. It’s the feeling of mak-ing a difference.”

One of last year’s winning teammembers, Tim Inglis, drew on hispersonal experience as inspirationfor his team’s design — a prosthetichand produced on a 3D printer. In-glis, a fourth-year student in biomed-ical electrical engineering at Carle-ton University at the time, had can-cer when he was 11and is a leg ampu-tee. As a result, he’s met severalamputees over the years.

“I was always shocked by the cost ofthe prostheses,” says Inglis, 25, nowworking on his master’s in electricalengineering.

“My leg costs almost $20,000; anarm is upwards of $25,000. The goalwas to try to produce a hand with lessexpensive components.”

To that end, his team used off-the-shelf components and repurposedthem into a cheaper myoelectrichand activated through muscle con-traction. The 3D printer actuallyprinted the hand part of it in about 18hours.

The total cost of Inglis’s team’s de-vice: under $400. The hand took firstplace at the IDeA competition, andcurrently students are working awayon it, trying to improve the functionand design further still.

“The bigger lesson is, that technolo-gy is coming,” says Inglis. “3D is verywell suited to mass customization.”And even though the material ismore fragile than the expensiveprostheses, he adds, “the differencebetween having nothing and havinga hand that might break is fairly sig-nificant.”

Joseph Santerelli, 20, then a first-

year engineering student at Westernand one of the finalists, was inspiredin his design by his volunteer work.He had started a program at his localYMCA for swimmers with disabili-ties.

Visually impaired swimmers aretypically tapped on the top of thehead with a foam block attached to apole and held by a monitor to letthem know when they are nearingthe end of the pool. Santerellithought there could be a less invasiveway to let swimmers know — onethat would enable them to swim bythemselves.

He came up with portable sensors,put five metres from the edge of apool on both ends of a lane. Thesensors send a pulse to a device onthe swimmer’s body, which lets themknow when they are nearing the endof the pool.

Santerelli and his team tried it on ablindfolded friend and the deviceworked well.

They’re in the process of redesign-ing to make it smaller and complete-

ly reliable before they try it out on avisually impaired swimmer.

“It’s not any different from a tap-per,” he adds,” but it’s a more digni-fied way of doing it.”

Finalists David Newman andTrinette Wright, final-year electricaland biomedical engineering stu-dents at McMaster University, fo-cused on the significant barriers thatexist for people with disabilities en-gaging with technology.

“Technology is pervasive through-out our lives, particularly regardingboth employment and personal op-portunities,” explains Newman, 22,now working for Microsoft in Seat-tle. “It provides an increase in qualityof life if we can help all people usetechnology.”

The team designed InterFace,which facilities hands-free computerinteraction by combining two keytechnologies: face tracking and wire-lessly measuring the user’s brainwaves.

“Using a sensor, we measured slightangle changes of the user’s face and

used that to control the position ofthe cursor on the screen,” says New-man. “They don’t even have to usetheir hands.” They also designed awireless headset, and the signalsfrom a movement like a deliberatelylong eye blink are transmitted to theuser’s computer, which triggers aclick of the mouse.

The idea is to make the device cus-tomizable—now it includes a headsetbut they have also figured out a wayfor movement from the user’s mouthto trigger movement on a computerscreen.

This year’s deadline for submissionto IDeA is early April. The initial planwas to focus on attracting designsfrom engineering and health sciencestudents, among others, but Hrymakhas found that some of the most in-teresting submissions are interdisci-plinary.

“Those teams really have looked ata problem or issue from differentperspectives,” he adds. “That’s onething we’ve been trying to promotewith the competition.”

> VISION

How big ideas change livesWestern engineering students Nicole Kucirek, right, and Joseph Santarelli were part of the team that produced an alert system for blind swimmers.

PAUL MAYNE FOR THE TORONTO STAR

Creative inventions byuniversity students aim tohelp people with disabilities

NORA UNDERWOODSPECIAL TO THE STAR

In 2002 she became director of theTHRILL program, home to studentsfrom a variety of disciplines buildingmodels for design challenges orworking on design projects of theirown using the lab as a base.

THRILL is also a partner in theRyerson Mixed-Reality ImmersiveMotion Simulator, which Woodcocksays allows students to create roller-coaster simulations for research pur-poses.

“(It) will enable us to design sim-ulations, such as rollercoasters, andplay them back not just with 3D vid-eo, but with full motion,” she says.

Woodcock describes the programas a hands-on “learning lab,” withstudents interacting with people inother disciplines and getting the op-portunity to shadow professionals inthe field.

THRILL students have previouslytrekked to the International Associa-tion of Amusement Parks and At-tractions Expo in Orlando, Fla. — theso-called “theme park capital of theworld” — to see the world’s largestamusement industry exhibits andmeet manufacturers and suppliers.In March, they will travel to FortLauderdale, Fla., to attend interna-tional standardization meetings ondesign and safety and meet with en-gineers from around the world.

“I firmly believe that the amuse-ment industry is a great industry towork with and would make a greatcareer for talented young engineers,”Woodcock says.

For the past 10 years, THRILL hasalso partnered with the CanadianNational Exhibition to bring stu-dents behind the scenes during thefair’s construction to shadow inspec-tors from the Technical Standardsand Safety Authority and meet withoperators North American MidwayEntertainment, as well as many con-sultants and suppliers in the indus-try.

“In addition to the chance to see theequipment before it’s all covered upand operating for the public, the stu-dents have a chance to meet the peo-ple that construct, inspect and oper-ate the rides,” Woodcock says.

Woodcock, who is deaf, also co-au-thored the book Deafened People:Adjustment and Support, on the pro-cess of adjusting to and acceptinghearing impairment as an adult, andwas the first deaf woman to earn aPhD in engineering.

The well-seasoned rider can’t pick afavourite rollercoaster, but Wood-cock’s says the best part of her job isinteracting with and learning fromthe amusement industry’s many en-gineers, manufacturers and themepark consultants who design, buildand maintain the gut-busting ridespeople love.

“There’s nothing like riding a roller-coaster with the guy that designed orbuilt it,” she says. “It’s like the direc-tor’s cut that gives you insight intowhat makes the attraction great.”

Students workbehind scenesat the CNEROLLERCOASTER from N1

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