Ohio AgrAbility Design Solutions Developed in a First-Year Engineering Innovation Course

Abstract

<abstract> <bold>Abstract.</bold> For four years (eight academic semesters), the Ohio AgrAbility Program and the University of Dayton Engineering Innovation course (EGR 103) have partnered to provide students with an open-ended engineering design project related to the mission of AgrAbility. This partnership allowed students to identify and solve a variety of problems within agricultural systems, and yielded creative, practical design solutions and prototypes. The partnership and prototypes were shown and demonstrated for farmers at key agricultural workshops/events and highlighted in a ThinkTV® video on agricultural engineering sponsored by the Dayton, Ohio STEM Center. This poster highlights the partnership and the quality, novel, and affordable ($50 or less) design solutions generated by first-year students in the course. Examples include an adaptive crutch tool, ergonomic shovel, watering device for persons with cognitive limitations, compression garments and gloves for arthritis sufferers, safety harness for grain silos, and various assistive devices for farmers in wheelchairs. These design solutions address a host of prevention, safety, and assistive needs. In addition to design solutions, the partnership provides an enhanced experiential learning design experience for students. EGR 103 is a project-based first-year engineering design course, which requires students to work in teams on service-learning design projects, and collaborate on design activities and technical reports to solve open-ended problems using engineering design. Multidisciplinary engineering design teams are given guidance and key deadlines, but the teams primarily work independently on projects and must diligently exercise project management. Realistic, relevant engineering problems and productive client interactions are essential components of the Engineering Innovation course that enhance the design and learning experience. Ohio AgrAbility staff and clients help fulfill these objectives by working with course instructors to craft pertinent problem statements, serving as clients that provide meaningful interaction and feedback, arranging site visits/tours for design teams, and donating materials so students can design and test realistic prototypes.