It took Ohio University student Bob Meholif and his team eight months to accurately shoot a basketball. Now, the result of their work will help a local wheelchair-bound teen play the game he loves.
The group of OU seniors will showcase their project at the Student Research and Creative Activity Expo today. They have developed a wheelchair sidecar that can launch a basketball for a lay-up or three-point shot for Trent Glaze, a sophomore at Fairfield Union High School in Lancaster.
Glaze has muscular dystrophy, a disease that weakens muscles. He continued to play basketball in his wheelchair, but stopped when it became difficult to lift his arms.
It's kind of a glorified toy
said Meholif, who is studying applied physics with a concentration in mechanical engineering. It makes him an athlete again. We don't have a computer or anything do it for him - where's the fun in that?
The Expo will give more than 600 OU students an opportunity to present research projects to visitors and a chance to win $300 in prize money. Faculty from all backgrounds are volunteering as judges, said Roxanne Malé-Brune, expo organizer and director of grant development and projects for OU.
Middle and high school students are visiting the expo from as far as Belpre, said Andrea Gibson, director of Research Communications.
It's a great way for students to get a quick snapshot and to see what is underneath the umbrella of research activity (at OU) Gibson said.
Meholif and his team started the project when their adviser, Greg Kremer, suggested the idea. The theme for the senior capstone project was Designing to Make a Difference.
The unique thing about our system is that it's not just for him Meholif said. It's his when we are done
but other kids are going to use the exact same thing to get the same joy out of it he did.
The team was asked to exhibit the shooter at the opening of The Academic & Research Center Saturday, where someone recommended they patent the project. Work on the patent began Monday, Meholif said.
The team received funding from the National Institute for the Severely Handicapped and the mechanical engineering department. The shooter cost about $1,400, including materials and man-hours, Meholif said.
It would take the team less than a week to make another one if they had all the parts, said team member Bob Herpy.
The Expo is open from noon to 2:30 p.m. at The Convo. Free pizza will be provided from noon to 1:30 p.m.
These students are working hard on these projects all year long
and this is their chance to show off
Gibson said. It's not just a science fair.
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Culture
Lauren Mikolay
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