What field of engineering would be involved in this device?

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>I recently was parked next to a young lady who was in the handicapped spot. She asked me to move my car over so she could open her door further. I gladly obliged and got out to make sure she had room to open her door.</p>

<p>To my surprise, she was in a motorized wheelchair/scooter, and she was using some sort of crane device in her trunk to lift her wheelchair/scooter into her trunk. I stood with her, to make sure she was okay. I was just amazed, as well, at her device. Bless her heart, she “spiderman walked”, as she called it, across the side of her van to enter the driver’s seat. This is where she needed room to fully open her door.</p>

<p>From there, she had a platform that folded down for her to sit on, which she did, then she used a button to raise the platform even with the seat, which she slid onto. Where the brake/gas pedal normally are, there was a metal plate, and there seemed to be a device on her steering wheel.</p>

<p>So as not to embarrass her, I did not ask too many probing questions about her vehicle, but I told her I thought it was awesome that she had such wonderful adaptive equipment. She said she wouldn’t be able to work without it. </p>

<p>I’m a parent and not an engineer, but I assume some sort of engineering is involved here and I was wondering what one would study in college to work on developing such equipment.</p>

<p>While there are many bright kids out there who want to do something to help people, and might want to use their talents to that end, working on equipment such as this young lady had would seem to be a great thing to do.</p>

<p>Would love to hear more about it from you engineereers/engineering majors to educate me about this. My son is hoping to study biomedical engineering, and he hopes to develop medical devices to help people. Perhaps this is something he or his classmates might be interested in doing.</p>

<p>Thanks for any insight on this field. Thank you!</p>

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<p>A mix between mechanical engineering and electrical engineering.</p>

<p>Probably there was a team who did the mechanical design and another that did the electrical design.</p>

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<p>Seems like most of the engineering involved for the devices in question would be mechanical, with some electrical.</p>

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<p>My son is doing mechanical engineering as his undergrad, so I’m hoping if he does want to do research on this type of device for his biomedical engineering graduate work, it would be a good background for him. Maybe some electrical engineering electives would be good to try to fit in if he has time or needs to fulfill a requirement?</p>

<p>Anyway, it’s great to see engineers making things that make life easier for special needs people. What an emotionally rewarding field to be in.</p>

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<p>[Oscar</a> Pistorius](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius]Oscar”>Oscar Pistorius - Wikipedia)’ feet, the [Ossur</a> Flex Foot Cheetah](<a href=“Össur. Life Without Limitations.”>Össur. Life Without Limitations.), and other similar adaptive equipment, may also be of interest to someone interested in engineering adaptive equipment. Mechanical and materials engineering are likely the types of engineering subjects used in designing such devices. Perhaps if your son is interested in this type of stuff, using a science elective for an exercise physiology course, if available, may be worth considering.</p>

<p>On the other hand, he may want to be ready to do any other general mechanical engineering job, since jobs in the specific desired subarea may not be available immediately after graduation.</p>

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<p>^^^Thank you so much, ucb, for the advice and the links. Son does not want to go into the workforce with a BSE. He plans to attend grad school for biomedical engineering. He hopes to double major or perhaps minor in biology, but he’s in a computer based honors program that acts as a minor already, so I don’t know what he’ll have time for. So far, he’s got AP credit for first year biology. If he has time for extra science classes, I’ll definitely suggest the exercise physiology class. I’ll have him check with his advisor and see what is offered at his college that may interest him.</p>

<p>As a daughter of a mother in a wheelchair, I am always intrigued by the medical devices now available. Son had an initial interest in prosthetics, but as he’s begun his engineering major, he’s interested in exploring other options in the biomedical engineering field. </p>

<p>Thanks again for all your input. We really appreciate it.</p>

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<p>We need a biomedical to figure out how to fix that lady so she can walk and not have to have some fancy crane device.</p>

<p>Though the spiderman walk is fun to do.</p>

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<p>^^Ha, japher. Wouldn’t that be wonderful if we could fix people? Despite medical advances, some people won’t be able to be fixed.</p>

<p>As I said, I didn’t pry into this lady’s condition, but I was so respectful of the fact that, despite her disability, she was able to drive a car and go to work and bring her kids to school. We did spend some time talking about our children, as all moms do. She shared that her son was just starting high school and I suggested he might want to look into engineering. </p>

<p>What I thought was great about the crane was the fact that she, by herself, could get herself into a car and drive. She didn’t need a caregiver to transfer her from her motorized wheelchair/scooter into her car, which she could then drive. As a caregiver of an elderly parent, I am thankful that there are engineers out there that designed that crane device for her.</p>

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<p>Here is some more information about engineering of adaptive devices:</p>

<p>[Homayoon</a> Kazerooni and Berkeley Bionics Unveil eLEGS](<a href=“http://me.berkeley.edu/announcements/kazerooni_elegs.html]Homayoon”>http://me.berkeley.edu/announcements/kazerooni_elegs.html)
<a href=“http://berkeleybionics.com/[/url]”>http://berkeleybionics.com/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://bleex.me.berkeley.edu/[/url]”>http://bleex.me.berkeley.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thanks so much for these links!</p>

<p>Does anyone know of any other schools that are working with devices to aid disabled people?</p>