CBET-0649998 May-Newman This proposal builds on a successful relationship between the Colleges of Education and Engineering in the area of assistive technology. About 10 undergraduate senior design teams will be formed each year to develop assistive technology to improve access, integration and quality of life for persons with disabilities to employment, education, recreation, and independent wayfinding. By teaming the undergraduate engineers with members from the rehabilitation technology program, professional engineering volunteers, as well as the disabled users, our multidisciplinary approach is expected to yield robust, suitable, and effective designs. This type of longer-term, team-based design project is the culminating capstone learning experience for SDSU engineering students, and a critical part of their development into competent engineers. The overall goal of this partnership is to develop technology solutions to allow physically challenged individuals to safely and independently participate in various recreational, vocational, educational and other activities. The specific objectives of this program are to design assistive technology or equipment that addressees the needs of specific individuals to enable their participation in a recreational, travel or other activity; teach multidisciplinary teams of engineering students, rehabilitation technology students, and disabled individuals to solve problems collectively; disseminate the designs through student competitions, presentations and the published reports, monitor and gather feedback from the users of the equipment in order to build a library of design guidelines to pass on to other students involved in future design projects.
