Welcome to the Homepage
for the National Science Foundation Engineering Design Projects to Aid Persons
with Disabilities. In 1988, the National Science Foundation initiated a
program to provide funds for student engineers at universities throughout the
United States to construct custom designed devices and software for individuals
with disabilities. Through the Biomedical Engineering & Research Aiding
Persons with Disabilities Program, funds are awarded competitively to
universities to cover supplies, equipment and fabrication costs for design
projects. Since 1989, books have
been published to disseminate information about the projects funded through this
program. To view a book, simply
click on the year the book was published in the frame on the left. These books
are stored in pdf format. If this reader is not available on your
browser, you can obtain a free reader by visiting the Adobe Homepage at www.adobe.com.
Except for introductory
chapters, each chapter includes descriptions of design projects at a single
university, written by students and principal investigator(s) at that university
and edited by us. Individuals
wishing more information on a particular design should contact the designated
supervising principal investigator. An index is provided so that projects may be
easily identified by topic in each book.
It is hoped that these
manuscripts will enhance the quality of future senior design projects for
persons with disabilities by providing examples of previous projects, and
motivate other universities to participate because of the potential benefits to
students, clients, educational institutions, and communities. Moreover, the technologies used in these projects provide
examples of a broad range of applications for new engineers. The ultimate goal of these publications and the projects carried out
under this initiative is to assist individuals in reaching their maximum
potential for enjoyable and productive lives.
For the most part, a
two-page project description format is used for each book. Each project is first
briefly described. A summary of
impact then illustrates the effect of the project on a person's life. A detailed
technical description follows. Photographs
of the devices and other important components are incorporated throughout the
manuscripts. Some of the projects are described more extensively, covering many
pages; these projects are typically the first or last project in a chapter.
The information in this
publication is not restricted in any way. Individuals are encouraged to use the
project descriptions in future design projects for persons with disabilities.
Creative Learning Press, Inc. John D. Enderle, Editor |