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Students invent new adaptive tech during 10-day Make-a-Thon blitz

This year's Make-a-Thon yielded eight projects

St. Louis Public Radio 
Katie Auyeung, a Washington University junior engineering major from Chicago, right, and Zachary Fine, a sophomore biomedical engineering major from Silver Spring, Md., left, help Craig Oberle, of Florissant, put on a device they invented that would help limit his hand tremors at the end of the school’s annual Make-a-Thon program on Thursday in St. Louis’ Central West End neighborhood. (Brian Munoz / St. Louis Public Radio)
Katie Auyeung, a Washington University junior engineering major from Chicago, right, and Zachary Fine, a sophomore biomedical engineering major from Silver Spring, Md., left, help Craig Oberle, of Florissant, put on a device they invented that would help limit his hand tremors at the end of the school’s annual Make-a-Thon program on Thursday in St. Louis’ Central West End neighborhood. (Brian Munoz / St. Louis Public Radio)

Eric Westacott, who has been a lawyer for decades, signs a lot of legal documents.

But he has a spinal injury, and it’s become more difficult to write.

“As I’ve aged that ability has diminished,” he said. “I had to find a new device I could use independently to accomplish that same goal.”

Enter the Washington University Make-a-Thon, an event in its second year in which students design and produce a prototype of a functional tech device for people with disabilities.

People from different fields work together to create a product for a person with a disability – such as Westacott, said Marit Watson, an occupational therapy professor at the university.

“The Make-a-Thon really looks at connecting engineering and occupational therapy students with people living in the community with disabilities,” she said. “We call them co-designers, and they actually pitch an idea that then the students work on over a 10-day period to fulfill a need with a usable product.”

Read the full story here.

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