{"id":10837,"date":"2014-03-13T17:50:14","date_gmt":"2014-03-13T22:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=10837"},"modified":"2015-11-12T08:20:47","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T14:20:47","slug":"engineering-partnership-touches-lives-of-students-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/engineering-partnership-touches-lives-of-students-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering partnership touches lives of students, seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2014\/03\/NaJinSeo_j-28jfg2y.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10880\" src=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2014\/03\/NaJinSeo_j-28jfg2y.jpg\" alt=\"NaJinSeo_j\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2014\/03\/NaJinSeo_j-28jfg2y.jpg 600w, https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2014\/03\/NaJinSeo_j-28jfg2y-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a>University researchers and a team of middle schoolers are working together to build a hand mobility device for seniors with disabilities.<\/p>\n<p>The unusual partnership grew from a newspaper article and a phone call.<\/p>\n<p>Peter Graven and his robotics club at Deer Creek Intermediate School in St. Francis were preparing a project for the 2012 First LEGO League (FLL) challenge, an international innovation competition for middle schoolers. The theme that year was Senior Solutions, helping develop devices that address health and mobility issues specific to senior citizens.<\/p>\n<p>FLL introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges, building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks. FLL teams are guided by their own imagination and adult coaches, according to the US First website. The goal is to help student discover career possibilities and learn to make positive contributions to society.<\/p>\n<p>After reading an article in the Journal Sentinel about research at 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Hand Rehabilitation Lab, Graven contacted Na Jin Seo, the lab\u2019s director and an assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering, for advice on evaluating his students\u2019 efforts.<\/p>\n<p>That initial contact in 2012 has blossomed into an ongoing collaboration between the seventh and eighth graders and university researchers.<\/p>\n<p>Graven is an 8th grade science teacher who started the STEM (Science Technology, Education and Mathematics) program for the St. Francis School District. Deer Creek is located near the St. Ann\u2019s Center for older adults, and students became aware through contacts with the center of the many mobility needs of older adults, says Graven.<\/p>\n<p>One of the focuses of 51ÁÔÆæ hand rehabilitation lab is developing and testing devices to help stroke survivors regain use of their hands. Seo gravitated toward robotics early on: \u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in how to use engineering to benefit human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Working across generations with ease<\/p>\n<p>A grant from 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Cultures and Communities program has allowed the intermediate school and the university researchers to continue their collaboration. Pilwon Hur, a post-doctoral researcher in 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s engineering program, visits the school to discuss challenges and offer advice. The students also visit the 51ÁÔÆæ lab regularly to compare what they\u2019ve accomplished with efforts of researchers on campus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have been extremely receptive and welcoming,\u201d says Graven of the 51ÁÔÆæ researchers. \u201cThey\u2019ve been patient with the kids and respect their school schedules.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Watching Hur study the device and take and answer questions from Deer Creek students Nik and Colton during a visit to the school, there is little sense of an age difference. This day, the students are wrestling with how to build a finger rest that will allow researchers to test skin sensitivity, but still be comfortable for the users. Hur gives thoughtful attention to the students\u2019 ideas as the whole group exchanges ideas and possible solutions. These are curious engineers attacking a problem together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese kids are really bright,\u201d says Seo, \u201cand they love to talk about engineering and programming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Innovation, sensation are just two goals<\/p>\n<p>Members of the school\u2019s robotics club have moved on to other projects, but a core group has stayed focused on the hand project. The formal program involves 10 Deer Creek students and 11 51ÁÔÆæ engineering students. Ultimately both groups of engineers hope to develop an assistive device that improves seniors\u2019 ability to feel the touch sensation in the hand better.<\/p>\n<p>But in addition to building a robotic device, Graven and Seo stress other benefits of the collaborative program:<\/p>\n<p>Showing university students and middle schools students can work together on scientific research to benefit the elderly;<\/p>\n<p>Encouraging university students to develop their teaching and mentoring skills as well as connections with the community;<\/p>\n<p>Inspiring the university and middle school students to develop and use engineering skills to help people in the community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s allowed us to help students understand the connection between the STEM fields and the real world,\u201d says Graven.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>University researchers and a team of middle schoolers are working together to build a hand mobility device for seniors with disabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[122,123],"display_categories":[],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[149],"class_list":["post-10837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","section-campus-community","section-campus-partnerships","uwmnews-feed-engineering-applied-science"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Engineering partnership touches lives of students, seniors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"University researchers and a team of middle schoolers are working together to build a hand mobility device for seniors with 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