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Inland Valley Daily Bulletin 06/07/05

Students Put Their Skills to Good Use

POMONA - Bound to a wheelchair, Shawn Bromley lives in an internal world with little control over his environment. Feeding and breathing tubes attach to his stomach and trachea. Cerebral palsy inhibits his motor control, and although his mind is sharp, he cannot speak.

On Saturday, Shawn, 34, received a gift from engineering students at Cal Poly Pomona: a heavily modified iPod MP3 player he can control with his hands.

"He sat there for two hours straight and just listened to the music with a smile on his face," said Barbara Bromley, his mother.

It wasn't the first time engineering students have used their knowledge to improve the lives of others, but part of a campus initiative to emphasize service.

Instead of the traditional internship, Cal Poly encourages its students to think outside the ivory tower and take their education into the community with service projects.

Jawa Mariappan, associate professor of mechanical engineering, partnered his students with Ability First, a program in Claremont that works with about 65 physically disabled youth from ages 5 to 22.

They assess the needs of the disabled students then design and test solutions to the students' day-to-day challenges.

Mechanical engineering student Victor Murillo is making a spoon that can be used by children with cerebral palsy.

Some of the students at Ability First have trouble grasping and frequently drop things, such as eating utensils, which must be picked up and washed each time.

Murillo fashioned a prototype spoon connected to a movable arm, similar to a table lamp. His goal is a streamlined version of this "helping hand" that will hold the spoon but require the user to move it, encouraging them to hone their muscles and motor skills.

"It feels really good because you get to see someone benefiting from your idea," Murillo said.

Cal Poly has received grants from the National Science Foundation and National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance to support the work.

Shad Skarich designed the iPod conversion that brought music to Shawn's Bromley's life. Before, he relied on staff at the assisted-care facility where he lives to queue a CD which would end after an hour or so. Skarich took the original idea of rigging a CD player a step further.

"That's the "90s," Skarich said. "This is the 21st century. Let's do it with an MP3 player."

He re-engineered the iPod into a console with large buttons that allow Bromley to play, pause, change songs and control the volume.

"He spent the first few minutes raising the volume, he just wanted it louder and louder," Barbara Bromley said.

They loaded Shawn's collection of music CDs into the device, and now he can listen to hours and hours of his music whenever he likes.

"This was easy to do, but it improved his life ten-fold," Skarich said.

Bromley's mother, who also works at Cal Poly, was a factor in the engineering students' involvement. She originally approached the department for help, and one of the students' first projects was to add mobility to Bromley's life.

Tethered to his feeding tube, Bromley's IV stand was an anchor.

"We couldn't go anywhere because he was so tied to this pole," Barbara Bromley said.

Engineering students took the IV stand and integrated it into his wheelchair. The stand telescopes up and down, enabling Shawn to get in and out of vehicles.

"We can go out to the mall or the park, it's been very freeing for him," Barbara Bromley said.

Edward Clancy, professor of engineering, said engineers are wired for this kind of work.

"We get a thrill out of solving problems," he said. "What better problems can be solved then those that improve the lives of others?"

Seeing a different need in the community, senior Hadassa Gonzalez wanted to address the high injury rate among day laborers.

"As students, we're very selfish," she said. "We think more about our education and careers."

Gonzalez partnered with Western University of Health Sciences and UCLA to develop a safety training program and distribute fanny packs with basic safety equipment at the Pomona Day Labor Center.

Other projects in the engineering department include a swimming pool-friendly wheelchair and a stationary exercise bike that physically disabled youths can use without falling off.

Mariappan said his students are most engaged when they are emotionally invested in their work.

"If you add some passion and emotion to your project, it will make it into a life-or-death matter for you," he said.

Link: http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203%257E21481%257E2890618,00.html?search=filter