Engineering seniors add magic to kids' lives

For a class of seniors in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, engineering has become more than just numbers and designs. It has come to mean something close to magic. Or at least for the disabled children of the Children's Seashore House, located within the University Medical Center complex, it seems that way. For this year's required BioEngineering senior design project, the group of 37 students created two specially-designed toys for child victims of cerebral palsy. The designs, created after discussion with doctors and therapists at the hospital, were chosen first semester and have since been produced and are soon to be delivered. "Our goal was to produce something that was good enough to give somebody and a product for which there's a real need and really no competition," said Dan Bogen, associate professor of BioEngineering. "We came up with the idea of toys for disabled children. "The group of children are kids with cerebral palsy. Many don't have fine motor skills," Bogen explained. "They have no fine coordination that would allow them to operate regular toys." So, the class brainstormed ideas, which were then judged in a competition at the end of last semester by students, Bogen, and others from the department and the Children's Seashore House. "We just tried to come up with ideas that would be fun," said Engineering senior Marc Simon. "And the kids needed to be able to activate them real easily." The students then designed the electronics, mechanics and graphics for the two chosen ideas. "The first toy is called the 'Music Mat,' and it operates much like a piano," Bogen said. Brightly colored squares ornament the 1 x 2 foot board which serve as the "keys" of the piano. Each key is connected to an electrical switch which produces a tone. Bogen described the second toy, known as the 'Crazy Purple Guy,' as "an oddly shaped, purple doll." "When you press one of its feet, it makes a crazy sound," Bogen said. "When you press the other foot, it shakes its head. And it has big googly-eyes. The child would be able to see the vibration in the eye sockets." Approximately 100 of each toy are being built in the class' "workshop" on the second floor of Hayden Hall. Their project, dubbed "PENNToys," has also interested the Commercial Broadcasting Company, who spent two and a half hours earlier this month filming the production. They plan to air a segment about the project on their CBS This Morning broadcast. The project is also very well received by the students. "At first, you hear you're going to be spending your senior year building toys and you wonder, 'does this have to do with engineering or not?' But we're actually working with the kids," Simon said. "We're addressing an issue that really needs to be addressed. It's been very rewarding." Funding for the project has been provided by the department, the Engineering School, and through donations. On April 27, the students will be officially presenting their PENNToys project in the Alumni Hall of the Towne Building. And the toys will be delivered to the children at the Children's Seashore House before the end of the semester. Magic? Maybe so.