Students engineer independence

This could very well be the most stressful point in the semester for most students. Preparing for presentations, researching for final projects, and struggling to deliver quality work to achieve that ‘A’ can be altogether daunting. For one engineering class, getting an ‘A’ is not exactly what’s most important this semester.

Students in one University of Colorado at Boulder engineering class, “First-Year Engineering Projects“, have been working on a semester long assignment, developing projects to help improve mobility and independence for people in their community of Longmont, Colorado who are disabled and confined to their homes.

Teaming up with Imagine!, a local non-profit that provides support to people with disabilities, more than 30 students divided into seven teams to dedicate their attention to constructing projects that have included a universal remote, a compact desk, a mobile laundry basket, a suspended scale, and a tray and broom attachment for wheelchairs.

For one local resident, Anthony Plumley, 38, helping out around the house can now be something to look forward to. Plumley will receive a laundry basket that has been specially designed with wheels and a broom attachment for his wheelchair that will allow him to do tasks like cleaning floors and laundry without any assistance.

“It’s good and the more help I get it’s better for me,” Plumley said.

Another team of students are eagerly working on a rotating storage unit, allowing for their client who is in a wheelchair to organize everyday items in the eight plastic tubs that rotate with a push of a button.

“We’re just putting the finishing touches on it now, but I think we’re all really happy with how it turned out,” team member Andrew Onorato said.

Just in time for the holidays, it is clear that this group of engineering students exemplifies the meaning of “the spirit of giving.” For these students, the grade is completely irrelevant compared to the remarkable life changes these projects will bring.