MaryKate Carter
MSU's Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities partners with the College of Engineering to expand their work of maximizing opportunity and ability beyond U.S. Borders. Students in EGR100 are developing technology to make 3D anatomy models accessible for students in India who are blind.
The RCPD has earned a reputation of success in helping individuals with disabilities achieve full participation on campus. Through their website, the RCPD offers help to the rest of the world looking for innovative accessibility solutions. The Asian Aid India School for the Blind in Bobbili, India approached Stephen Blosser of the RCPD about harnessing these resources to help their students who are blind better grasp the subject of anatomy.
Stephen Blosser and Joseph Paulson agree to work together to help the Asian Aid school for the blind.
Blosser is an Assistive Technology Specialist at the RCPD, serving as liaison to the College of Engineering. After a trip to India with Asian Aid, an organization that works to better education for children in Asian countries, Blosser came back to MSU with an assignment for students in EGR 100. In Bobbili, Blosser met many of the 139 students who are blind at the Asian Aid school. The school is working to give these individuals as many opportunities as possible for success, but they are in need of interactive anatomy models that incorporate sound as part of the learning process.
About 700 engineering students are enrolled in EGR 100 this semester. The number of students involved in projects to develop assistive technologies is growing each term. Twelve teams will make 3D anatomy models more useful to students who are blind, and each group will work on one model, for example, the ear, eye, shoulder, or heart.
For freshman computer science major Jordyn Castor, the project is especially exciting because she is a student who is blind. She was only able to use 2D pictures to learn anatomy.
"I never really got to learn anatomy myself.
"In helping make the models for these students, I think I'm going to learn a little bit about anatomy.
"Hopefully I can help make it better for them because I know what works and what doesn't when it comes to learning as a completely blind person," Castor said.
Students Brett Farnsworth and Jacob Hersha will be working on making the shoulder model more accessible. They never thought this kind of project would be part of their engineering education, but they are excited to get involved.
EGR 100 students Jacob Hersha, Matt Kaler and Brett Farnsworth show the shoulder model they will be working on.
"I'm really glad that we are doing this," Farnsworth said.
"It is a cool way to utilize engineering."
Hersha added that this is a wonderful opportunity to work on a meaningful first project.
The school in Bobbili is for grades K-12, so Blosser challenged the MSU students to adapt the models in a way that makes them useful to as wide an age range as possible. The team working on the shoulder said their goal is to make it a tool for at least middle school ages and then develop components that would be used mainly by the older children.
The students will continue to research accessible technology to potentially implement in the models and then the class as a whole will decide to use one consistent method across all models before installing the accessible adaptations.
Upon completion, these models will make the trip to India where they will be utilized by the school for the blind. Before sending them off, the MSU Engineering students will demonstrate their completed projects at Design Day at the end of the semester.