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Recently IATP has provided the prompt for the Illinois Design Educators Association (IDEA) Engineering Design competition: IDEA Engineering Design Brief

Many high schools across Illinois will send competition teams to compete at regional and state levels. They will go through the engineering design process to develop a solution concept for our prompt and deliver their ideas in presentation form to a panel of judges.

Our goal is to give STEAM students an opportunity to design for a client in need of an assistive technology device. This is important because it allows the student to approach the problem more seriously as it is affecting an actual person. They will get feedback on their ideas from the client and be motivated that their final solution will have purpose. Also, they will get practice with decision-making within the field of engineering. Overall, the project will give them a rewarding experience as they get to create something that will help people, which hopefully will give them motivation to provide their best work.

Engineering Design Brief Prompt

Our specific prompt is to help students create a grabber tool that mechanically extends and retracts for a client who has quadriplegia due to a spinal cord injury. This tool will allow him to grab objects while in his wheelchair. There are a couple learning points we are hoping the students learn while doing this challenge.

• Listing the clients likes – Creating a solution that matches the clients aesthetics and likes
• Using a real client – Students can get actual feedback and find motivation in designing for someone who will use the solution
• Designing for a specific environment – Students are given information on the environment such as the wheelchair model, they then can design a way to carry the grabber on the chair, or do research on where to attach it
• Learning about disabilities – Students can research what quadriplegic means and interpret information into their solutions

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