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Rancho Rehab Title (21K)

Hands-on Experience in Rehabilitation Engineering (HERE)

Project Staff
Bullet (151 bytes) Samuel Landsberger, ScD, Project Director
Bullet (151 bytes) Samboon Maneekobkunwong, BSME
Bullet (151 bytes) Artin Davidian, Lead Designer
Bullet (151 bytes) Juan Garibay, Project Coordinator
Bullet (151 bytes) Daniel Frankl, Ph.D., Consultant

Mission

The Mission of the HERE Program is to provide California State University, Los Angeles engineering students with a real life design and implementation experience, in the context of helping disabled individuals live richer and more independent lives. These include aspects of project implementations such as the design process, mentoring workshops and conflict resolution. Students will be provided training in the following areas.

  • Hands-on training in general machining and equipment operations.
  • Generating Engineering drawing techniques and hand sketching.
  • Solid modeling using the SolidWorks software.
  • Measurements and tolerancing.
  • Communication via documentation such as letters memos as well as presentations.
  • In-class Shop Safety Examination.
  • Machining using the following:
    • Numerous hand tools
    • Drill press
    • Band saw
    • Milling machine
    • Lathe
    • Miscellaneous others
  • Students will be exposed to Rehabilitation Engineering.

Progress

Well over 100 minority students have benefited directely from the HERE program to date, and over 350 middle school students have participated in the putreach program.

It is apparent to both staff and students, as well as onlookers at both Rancho and the University that students have benifited greatly from exposure to new area of engineering endeavors, and have learned valuable hands-on design and teamwork skills.Students have especially received and greatly benefited as a result of the mentoring roles they have played in bringing the program to a middle school in the heart of a very poor area of Los Angeles.

Students have brought to life several very interesting new designs, some of which are on the way to commercial production. Some results of the program are that the low Vision Project 2nd place in 2002 IEEE student design competition. Also, the Beach Cruiser, which also designed and built by students, won 3rd place at the 2001 WESTEC student design competition. A height adjustable therapy bed was also designed and build in the HERE Lab at CSULA and is currently in use by their Kinesiology department.

LA Opinion, a leading Spanish language newspaper, and local media have featured students work on these projects to help the disabled, and the internationally syndicated Despierta America! Television program by Univision provided coverage of one project the Beach Cruiser – Viewed by audiences from Guatemala to Vermont. As tribute to the values of the program as perceived by the university, a professorship in support of a new Rehabilitation Design Institute has now been created at Cal. State LA.

A number of students have found employment in both the public and private business sector as direct or indirect offshoots of their participation in the program, and have acknowledged the leg up their involvement has given them. Some of the staff have begun volunteer work at local schools in poor districts as a result of their own participation.

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Last modified: July 28, 2005