| Students Design Custom Computer Desks For Woman with Disabilities | | | Mechanical Engineering Undergrads Make it Easier for Instructor to Continue
Working
Three Johns Hopkins University undergraduates have designed two custom
computer desks and delivered them to a health care educator who has
disabilities, helping her to continue to work from home. The desks will
allow Joy Goldberger, who lives in Baltimore County, to lead seminars and
workshops and to write professionally with greater ease and flexibility.
One of the new desks provides handier access to paper files and computer
equipment when Goldberger works from her bed. The second desk, a rolling
metal cart equipped with a laptop computer, allows her to work in other
parts of her home, including outdoors on her patio. The students linked
their client's two new computers with a wireless communication system that
allows her to access data on either unit without cumbersome cable
connections.
Goldberger has a progressive neurodegenerative disease that has led to
diminished strength, coordination and stamina, requiring her to use a
wheelchair or crutches and to spend extended time in a semi-reclined
position. She continues, however, to train health care workers to assist
parents of children with life-threatening illnesses. "Most of what I do
involves working at a computer," Goldberger said. "I've been trying to
continue working with as little physical effort as possible."
Last year, she sought help when her efforts to work on a computer positioned
beside her bed became more awkward and challenging. Goldberger was referred
to Baltimore-based Volunteers for Medical Engineering. She asked the group
if it could provide a new computer desk that would make it easier for her to
work from home. VME referred the project to students in the two-semester
Engineering Design Project course, offered by the Department of Mechanical
Engineering at Johns Hopkins.
The project was assigned to 22-year-old senior mechanical engineering majors
Boyang Li of Jericho, N.Y.; Olivia Mao of Natick, Mass.; and Eiline Yoon of
Los Angeles. The three, who had earlier worked together as study partners,
were pleased to be teamed for this project.
To begin, the students visited Goldberger's home to evaluate her needs and
study its layout. The team concluded that the best solution would be two
desks: one stationary model beside their client's bed and a second, movable
cart that would allow her to work in other rooms and on the patio. The team
members completed the design and construction work over the past school year
and delivered the desks and computers earlier this month. All three said
they were pleased with the outcome of their assignment.
"I think this project was really fulfilling for all of us because we were
actually working for someone, as opposed to working for a company," Mao
said.
"I see more of a sense of accomplishment because we could actually deliver
these to her and see the smile on her face," Li added.
"I feel like we were actually using the talents that we have and the skills
that we've learned to make a gift for a person in need," Yoon said. "I think
that's really important."
In completing the real-world engineering assignment, the students faced
several challenges. They were told to complete the project within a budget
that would not exceed $10,000. Initially, the students considered installing
complex electronic devices and motors on the desks. But ultimately, they
concluded that these high-cost, high-maintenance components were not really
needed.
The students also thought they could adapt ready-to-assemble desks from a
retail furniture store. But after determining that such desks were not
sturdy enough, the students used computer software to design their own
low-tech furniture that could be put together and operated with simple
mechanical parts. After buying lumber, hardware and other supplies, the
students built and stained the wood bedside desk. For the metal cart, the
team sent detailed measurements to a supplier, who assembled the unit
according to their design. The final cost for the desks and the new computer
equipment totaled about $5,000, well within the team's budget.
The stationary desk, made of stained birch, has room for a desktop computer
and printer. To put plenty of storage space within easy reach of their
client, the students designed and assembled a large six-sided desktop
carousel made of transparent acrylic panels. Their client was particularly
pleased by this feature. "Do you know how much I love this?" Goldberger said
after trying out the carousel. "My life is better already."
The smaller, movable cart, made of aluminum and plastic, is equipped with a
laptop computer resting on a turntable, allowing Goldberger to swivel her
screen to display a slide to her students. This rolling desk has handles on
the side so she can use it as a walker. Goldberger also can push the cart
across the room while seated in her electric wheelchair.
"I think the students did a wonderful job," said John Staehlin, president of
Volunteers for Medical Engineering, the project's sponsor. "They worked
really closely with Joy and solved the engineering problems."
Producing the custom computer desks was one of nine Johns Hopkins projects
completed this year by undergraduates in the engineering design course. The
class is taught by Andrew F. Conn, a Johns Hopkins graduate with more than
30 years of experience in public and private research and development. Each
team of three or four students, usually working within budgets of up to
$12,000, had to design a device, purchase or fabricate the parts and
assemble the final product. Corporations, government agencies and nonprofit
groups provided the assignments and funding. The course is traditionally a
well-received, hands-on engineering experience for Johns Hopkins
undergraduates.
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