TECHNOLOGY@TCA

Student engineers work to meet special needs

BY LISA WONG, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY

SEVEN YEARS AGO, TCA launched its first Honors Engineering Design class. The class is an Upper School science elective offered to those considering a career in the engineering field. This class helps students gain a perspective on various engineering disciplines by the introduction of design principles and practices as well as current and emerging challenges within the field. Hands-on projects allow students to learn the engineering design cycle. They design, model, prototype and manufacture designs using 3D solid modeling software and a 3D printer. Students engage in collaboration, project management, problem solving, creativity and critical thinking. Throughout the year, they give professional presentations, learn the importance of design ethics, hear from professional engineers and visit manufacturing plants.

But TCA Honors Engineering Design doesn’t stop there. These students, having gained the know-how, then are charged with putting their skills to the test. The class ends with a capstone design project where students design products for a disabled child in the DFW area. This is an amazing opportunity to put all that they have learned into practice, and it shows students that the development of the gifts and resources that God has given them gives glory to Him and provides for the good of others. My prayer is that this approach encourages my students to use their college preparation and career vocations in STEM fields to bless others in the world.

This year’s projects were focused on blessing Ryle Feng and his family. Ryle is an eight-year-old boy with spina bifida, Chiari malformation and hydrocephalus, and he was born with clubbed feet. Ryle was born in China and was left at the doorstep of an orphanage when he was just four days old. God was watching over Ryle as a security guard heard him crying, and an Australian missionary working at the orphanage became an advocate for Ryle. Other missionaries raised money for Ryle’s surgeries and fought for his life. Ryle was adopted by loving American missionaries and now lives in the DFW area. He has undergone numerous surgeries and can walk using leg braces. Ryle has feeling in his thighs but not below his knee. His left foot is completely paralyzed, and his right foot has limited ability. Ryle’s ability to use the restroom is affected because the muscles that help with emptying his bowel do not function. Therefore, Ryle not only takes medication but also requires urethral catheterization five times a day and a daily enema to help with bowel movements. Ryle is such a cheerful child who loves cars, cats and silly cartoons. He enjoys reading books, building with LEGO bricks and playing wheelchair basketball with the Dallas Junior Mavericks on the weekends.

Back in March, our class visited Ryle’s home to get to know him and learn about his daily routines. We took several measurements of his arms and legs and studied his bathroom environment. Students asked numerous questions and quickly learned about their design constraints. After working very hard for two months, students presented final products to Ryle and his family on April 28. It was such a blessing for everyone to see the joy on Ryle’s face as he learned and tried out the various products that will improve his daily life.

ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ PROJECT GOALS

For the capstone design projects, students are placed on a team and given a design task along with a budget. Each student had a specific role on the team. Project engineers managed the overall team and tasks and were the main customer contact. Financial managers ensured financial goals were met, purchased/returned all items, kept track of all receipts and tracked all expenses on an Excel spreadsheet. Quality control engineers oversaw overall product quality, wrote weekly status reports, created customer user instructions and ensured that safety standards were met. Chief technical engineers were the main technical leads, ensured all design constraints were met and oversaw testing.

TEAM 1: BATHROOM BENCH STATION Team 1 designed a bathroom bench station that Ryle will use to sit on while preparing for a bath and doing a urethral catheterization. The students were challenged to include a sturdy handlebar for easy access in and out of the bathtub. Because Ryle’s bathroom is very small, students figured out a way to minimize the depth of the bench to allow room for Ryle to access the bathtub. Students found solutions for easily accessible storage below the bench for Ryle’s catheterization supplies, leg braces, clothes and other needed medical items, including a hook on the side of the bench for hanging a catheter bag. Students considered size, stability, safety, comfort, ease of use, aesthetics and sanitation in their designs for Ryle. The biggest challenges for this team were supply chain delays and quality issues for purchased items.

TEAM 2: ACTIVITY STATION Team 2 designed an activity station that Ryle will use while seated at the toilet for his evening restroom routine. Ryle does not have neurotransmitters to tell him to empty his bowels, so his family administers a cone enema each evening to help with the process. It takes approximately one hour for the enema to take affect for a successful bowel movement. The goal of this station was to include physical activities because students learned that when Ryle exercised his arms and legs while sitting on the toilet, his digestive system is stimulated, which leads to a more efficient bowel movement. This shortens Ryle’s wait time on the toilet. Students mounted an arm pulley station on the wall and a portable bicycle pedal station for Ryle to exercise his arms and legs. The floor-mounted exerciser is height-adjustable to allow for growth. All apparatuses were stable but portable to allow room for bath time. The station also included a tabletop platform for Ryle to work on homework, read or use an iPad during the wait period. Students considered placement of Ryle’s current handles and footrests around his toilet, size, stability, safety, comfort, ease of use, aesthetics and sanitation. The biggest challenge for this team was the limited bathroom space around Ryle’s toilet. They also ran into issues with Ryle’s feet staying on the pedals, so the team used Autodesk Inventor CAD software to design custom pedals and 3D printed the parts.

TEAM 3: PORTABLE CATHETERIZATION STATION FOR USE IN PUBLIC RESTROOM Team 3 designed a portable catheterization station for use in public restrooms. Ryle requires urethral catheterization five times a day. He needs extra supplies to help him empty his bladder using a sterile process. This process is more difficult in public restrooms where it is less hygienic and where there is a lack of space to put the supplies. Because of these reasons, sometimes Ryle skips his catheterization and must wait until he goes home. However, this increases the likelihood of infection and complications. A portable solution to address these issues aids him when he must change his catheter in a public restroom setting. Students designed a station that has storage capacity for numerous supplies and includes a foldout tray for Ryle to lay out supplies while self-catheterizing. They also figured out a way to mount the station on a portable tripod. Students considered weight, stability, safety, ease of use, aesthetics and sanitation. The biggest challenge for this team was finding the right size bag that they could do extensive sewing on to meet design constraints. The other main challenge was designing a way to mount the bag in public restrooms which vary in size, stall styles and cleanliness.

I praise God that the students were able to experience some real-world industry challenges with supply chain, restroom environmental constraints, collaborating in stressful moments, not having enough money in their budgets and designing in such a tight physical space. It is during these times of failure when they experienced the most growth and learning. They learned how to pivot in difficult situations to solve problems in order to meet customer goals. I am so proud of these students and pray they can take the real-life skills gained from these projects into their future college years, careers and ministries to bless others around the world.