Innovation Showcase celebrates student innovation
From an eye-imaging system for Mayo Clinic, to a device that could improve railroad-crossing safety, to a robotic-guided glove to help teach sign language, students in Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering are creating technologies to solve real-world problems.
This fall’s Innovation Showcase at ASU’s Polytechnic campus highlighted the work of student teams that created innovative and imaginative solutions to meet a variety of challenges.
“It’s not just the solutions that impress us, but also the process in which students work directly with faculty mentors and industry leaders who partner with our students for new ideas,” said Paul Johnson, dean of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. “This collaboration is enriching for both sides and provides an introduction to industry for our students. The relationships that develop are rewarding and often result in job offers.”
The Innovation Showcase was organized into “neighborhoods” inspired by innovators through the ages. Including high school projects, senior-year capstone design projects, eProjects, and undergraduate and graduate student projects, the showcase highlighted the process of invention and creation.
One of the outstanding undertakings was the Mayo Clinic Telemedicine eProject, which brought together mechanical engineering technology and manufacturing engineering technology students Joseph Blaylock, Brandon Bosworth, David Cadis, Lance Cardey and Stephen Ginos, working under the mentorship of Jerry Gintz, senior lecturer in the Polytechnic School.
The scope of their project was to research and evaluate existing commercially available components that could be integrated into an iOS-based camera system.
“The goal was to create a proof-of-concept device that allows technical professionals to capture exterior images of a patient’s eye and transfer them to a specialist for diagnosis,” said Bowsworth, a senior from Mesa. “We see this technology being used in situations like on cruise ships, where there are large numbers of people in places where accessing an eye doctor could be challenging.”
The team’s device is a 3D-printed prototype that enables a person to look closely through a lens that takes a picture and transfers it to an iPad for transfer to a medical specialist for diagnosis.
According to Lindsay Clark, senior analyst and program manager for Mayo Clinic, what the students created was “beyond words,” in that it was developed “in time, on scope and in budget,” with consideration for both patient and care team.
“We had the software and concept developed, and wanted to work with ASU engineering to create the hardware and integrate the pieces,” Clark said. “It was good to have the extra energy and creativity the students brought from the outside. Very impressive.”
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Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering