Humanitarian entrepreneurial multi-year interdisciplinary BME capstone design course to enable the continued supported employment of persons with disability

Abstract

A humanitarian need exists to help individuals with disability remain employed in a supported work setting. In partnership with a local not-for-profit service agency, our students carried out an entrepreneurial multi-year interdisciplinary biomedical engineering capstone project that innovatively involved using commercial industrial electronics to make beverage container recycling more worker-friendly, flow-efficient and accountable. The project's mission was to improve the efficiency of, and maximize the dollar return from, a beverage container recycling business, while taking into account the capabilities of those with disability who were employees, and demonstrating that recycling was a viable option for a supported employment business. The project's outcomes were such that 1) This community-relevant humanitarian project helped to keep those with disability gainfully employed; 2) Student interaction with those with disability changed student mindsets; 3) Real-world engineering skills and teamwork were required to balance customer needs, worker ability, cost, maintainability and appropriate technology; 4) Students learned that engineering depended as much on artistry as on science and technology; 5) A wide mix of student disciplines participated, with 59% being female; 6) While at the start of each semester, few if any students had the ability to read schematics, test electronics, do carpentry or follow manufacturer's instructions to program equipment, all left with those skills; 6) Our customer (NYSARC) was greatly appreciative of our tables and their networking; and lastly and probably the most important 7) The workers with disability who daily used the tables adjusted rapidly to using them and expressed their like for them.