***Engineering Students Making a Difference Here at Home***

Remote Control Easel - ASME Student Chapter

Miami University’s student section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is proud to be a part of a community service project to design and build a Remote Control Easel. After hearing about the struggles that Miami Graduate student Matt Addison had faced, the students of ASME quickly decided to help. Matt is a talented artist who has not been able to produce his paintings very easily since suffering a stroke that left him paralyzed on the left side of his body, and partially immobilized on the right side. The goal of this project is to allow Matt to create his artworks with greater ease and convenience. ASME President Asha Ananthu took the lead and formed a team to design and construct a special Remote Control Easel that can move horizontally and vertically using a joystick remote control. This way Matt will be able to reach all areas of his art medium while still sitting comfortably in his chair. The team has been working very hard and hopes they will make life easier for Matt. On the team assisting Asha are, Spencer Birchfield, Natalie Carne, Cynthia Chavez, Sarah Day, Zak Dziczkowski, Mike Eilers, Bob Green, Greg Haggy, Mike Lang, Jake Mayer, Joe Reep, Andrew Reynolds, Stefanie Ries, Kevin Sigmund, and Joe Stilla. Most of the components to make the easel have been donated by various organizations. ASME would like to thank Automation Direct, Flexlink, Brighton Steel, the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Miami University, and last but not least the Miami Associated Student Government for all of their generous contributions and support of this project. This project would not be so successful without them all! Currently the Remote Control Easel is set for completion and turnover to Matt early in the Fall Semester 2007. This Remote Control Easel is just one example of the many great things that Miami University’s engineering students of ASME can and will do for those in need in our community.

Inspiring Future Women Engineers - SWE Student Chapter

Meaghan Geist and Kate Zechman, Co-Presidents of Miami University’s student section of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), organized this year’s highly successful Girl Scout Day. Girl Scout Day is the SWE’s largest event by far and has over the years earned quite a reputation among the Girl Scout troops! This year the theme was “Space” and Miami University welcomed 115 5th and 6th grade Girl Scouts from around the area for an experience that was “Out of this World”. With the help of all our volunteers, including help from ASME, the girls soared from one planet to the next learning about the different kinds of engineering. The completion of fun activities that focused on basic engineering principles including Statics, Mechanics, Dynamics, Materials, Structures, and Papermaking, helped the girls earn their Math Whiz, Making it Matter, Science Sleuth, and Computer Fun badges all in one busy day. While the main goal of Girl Scout Day is a fun time for everyone, it also serves a much higher purpose of acquainting young women with the field of engineering. Women have traditionally been underrepresented in the engineering disciplines, and Girl Scout Day is intended to help remedy that situation. Hopefully, some of the young women who attended Girl Scout Day will be so inspired that they follow right on through with a career in engineering. With role models like Meaghan and Kate, it’s a sure thing!

***Engineering Student Making a Difference in Tanzania***

Mechanical Engineering Junior, Natalie Carne is spending her summer in Tanzania. Together with other engineering students from all over the United States, Natalie is helping the local Tanzanian people take care of biomedical equipment at their hospitals. Natalie's primary objective is to work at Machame Hospital in Moshi, Tanzania, where she is repairing and refurbishing donated medical equipment. In addition, she is writing instruction/repair manuals in Swahili for each piece of equipment. This will help make it easier for the local people to maintain the equipment on their own after she and her friends leave. Before starting work at Machame Hospital Natalie spent a month in intensive training to learn Swahili and develop a basic familiarity with the types of biomedical equipment she would be working with. During her time in training Natalie lived with a very nice host family who had two small children. Their youngest child, a daughter named Anita, grew quite fond of Natalie and enjoyed learning about America and American games during their evening time conversations. Now that her training is over, Natalie is working full time at Machame Hospital. Even though she is a Mechanical Engineering major, Natalie says her electronics circuits classes are coming in quite handy too, especially when she has to fix a power supply or something like that. So far Natalie has refurbished or repaired centrifuges, foot operated aspirators, wheelchairs, and a blue ray device used to treat jaundice. This list will surely get much longer as Natalie works her way through the rest of the summer. Everyone back home at Miami is very proud of Natalie and of how she is using her engineering skills to help others. This is an excellent example indeed, of engineering, at its basic level, and its service to society.