Heather Kadrich
MSU’s Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD) has partnered for decades within and outside MSU to innovate technology for persons with disabilities, disseminating inventive work around the world. “We are creating solutions to disabilities,” says RCPD’s Assistive Technology Specialist and resident engineer Stephen Blosser. These projects include everything from aiding in essential life tasks to increasing opportunities for participation in athletics and recreation.
Since the mid 1990s the RCPD has collaborated with MSU’s Electrical and Computer Engineering capstone class to explore ways that electrical engineering seniors can become more aware of the need for accessibility features in product design. Over the last seven years the focus has shifted from exploring to doing. With guidance from Blosser, Dr. Erik Goodman from the College of Engineering, and persons with disabilities, seniors in the Electrical and Computer Engineering capstone class have designed a range of projects to aid persons with disabilities in many essential life tasks. This innovation ranges from the world’s first talking, high efficiency washer and dryer, to an agricultural grain elevator that helps farmers with disabilities, to a talking depth finder for a blind Great Lakes fisherman.
In addition, collaboration has brought about assistive technology for athletic and recreational purposes. One of MSU’s greatest accomplishments in this area is the development of equipment, including the ball and bases, for a sport called beep baseball. The Midland Rotary Club played an active role in this project. MSU has made several improvements to the equipment for the game. The previous version of the ball could be used only for a short time before it lost power. The RCPD/Engineering/Rotary collaboration produced a more resilient ball, thus decreasing the cost of playing the game. They also created wireless and collapsible bases making them easier to use, which also decreasing shipping costs to make the game much more affordable.
One of the RCPD’s most generous collaborators is Hal Wochholz, a 1950s graduate of the College of Engineering. He and his wife joined in this teaching and learning project through the establishment of an endowment that is housed at the RCPD. Having overcome his own disability through innovation in engineering to become a leader in aerospace engineering Hal understands firsthand the advancements possible through strategically applied engineering. The endowment fosters new collaborative partnerships with RCPD and engineering with the hope of providing those with disabilities leadership-developing opportunities in engineering. Further, Hal hopes to educate future and current engineers without disabilities about the impact they can have. A third goal involves showing pre-college students, that MSU has a sustainable record of education and opportunity despite disability.
If you would like to learn more about adaptive sporting and recreational opportunities for persons with disabilities please visit the Jim Bristor Athletics and Recreation Memorial If you would like to enable the RCPD and the College of Engineering to continue collaborating please see Harold F. and Phyllis N. Wochholz Endowment for Persons with Disabilities.