Xiaotong Li demonstrated the voice-activated device she and Aaron Kirgesner, Mitchell Cramer and Adam Stephens created to assist individuals who have mobility issues with lifting and lowering their pants.
Xiaotong Li, Aaron Kirgesner, Mitchell Cramer and Adam Stephens created a device that attaches to an individual’s pants and lifts or lowers them to or from a person’s waist with voice activation. The device was created during the fall 2012 semester as the students’ senior project, which was required for their graduation in December that year.
In January, they submitted their concept to the 2013 Undergraduate Design Project Competition in Rehabilitation and Assistive Devices.
Out of 24 entries, the students were selected as one of six finalists to present their prototypes at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2013 Summer Bioengineering Conference held in Sunriver, Ore.
At the conference, the UT students were awarded first place as decided by judges from both academia and industry. The students received a plaque and certificate.
This project was possible for the students with the help of faculty advisers Dr. Mohamed Samir Hefzy, associate dean of graduate studies and research administration in the College of Engineering and professor of mechanical, industrial and manufacturing engineering, and Dr. Mehdi Pourazady, associate professor of mechanical, industrial and manufacturing engineering. It was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation with Hefzy as a principal investigator and Pourazady as a co-principal investigator.
