A bioengineering senior design team has earned the right to compete at the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America's (RESNA) 2007 student design competition next month in Phoenix, Ariz. With the goal of improving the quality of life for the wheelchair-bound, the team developed an automated pressure-relief timer for pressure sore prevention.
Sponsored by HealthSouth Nittany Valley Rehabilitation Hospital, bioengineering seniors Kate Brizzi, Mariana Garcia, Mara Modest, Kelly Twomey, Ewelina Styczynska and Seetal Erramilli developed a robust multi-sensor wheelchair pressure-relief timer for their capstone project. As part of the RESNA competition, they will display their design at RESNA's annual conference and give an oral presentation.
The team, completing the project for their BioEng 450 senior design class, was advised by Nadine Barrie Smith, associate professor of bioengineering.
RESNA's purpose is to improve disabled persons' potential to achieve their goals through the use of technology.
Student design team winners will be announced at an awards ceremony during the conference June 15-19.