A family in West Hartford needed very special help. Their 6-year-old son suffers from spastic, quadriplegic cerebral palsy that developed because of complications during his birth. The family wanted to be able to include the child in activities like sledding and bike-riding but couldn’t find equipment adapted for his needs. Dr. Mary Arico and Prof. Sara Zajac, who teach the Biomedical Engineering Design Project II class (BE 461), assembled a team of students in the fourth year of the Biomedical Engineering program to meet the challenge and develop a sled and bike trailer that would be usable with a Blue Sky Cycle Carts Special Needs bike trailer for the child.
The family focused on the durability, the ease of use, and the safety aspects of the final product. The child’s physical therapist required the device to encourage good posture, to protect the child during impact, and provide adequate support for the child’s sensitive areas, such as the head. The design team added such design constraints as the ability to be machined by the team, the ability to operate in snow, a low center of gravity, and the like.
Students Brittany Mejia, Ahmad Osman, Mohammed Osman, Huy Pham, Chris Poudrette, Maria Qadri, and Haralambos Zaharis designed a project that met all of the requirements, and the bike trailer/sled was completed and is being used by the family this summer.
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