CORNELL JUNKYARD FINDS BECOME DEVICES FOR DISABLED YOUTHS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 8, 1992                   TAG: 9201080180
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: ITHACA, N.Y.                                LENGTH: Medium
CORNELL JUNKYARD FINDS BECOME DEVICES FOR DISABLED YOUTHS
Using what look like junkyard finds, Cornell biological engineering students design and build inexpensive durable therapeutic devices and toys for handicapped children.
So far, the students have built a radio-controlled toy truck and a battery-powered child-sized car intended to be operated by children with cerebral palsy, a zero-gravity arm sling to help children with minimal muscle tone use computers, a large four-position electrical switch that requires very little pressure to use, a car-loader to transfer children from wheelchairs to vehicles and a flying toy airplane.
To build these things, the students have used materials including windshield wipers, a luggage rack and neon-colored soap dishes.
The toy airplane, which is suspended from a wire attached to a large stand, "is very helpful because it provides a toy kids can access from any position," said Jan Cottrell, a special education teacher at the Tomkins County Board of Cooperative Educational Services, near Cornell. The plane "is hooked up to the switch, giving kids a sense of control by turning the toy on and off," Cottrell said.
Jean Hunter, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering who teaches the course, said the airplane helps children with "poor stability look up and pay attention to it, strengthening their neck and trunk muscles."
Hunter began the project last spring, following a trend of using technology developed for such devices as a basis for student design. But she said she told her students to concentrate on the needs of children after Cottrell told her there was a class of children who could use the toys and gadgets, especially ones that did not break easily.
"When Jean came to us with this idea, we jumped on it," Cottrell said.
Last spring's projects were financed with a $1,000 grant from the Cornell President's Fund for Educational Initiatives.
"We don't, as students, usually get the chance to work with other people in the community," said Emily Sun, a senior in mechanical engineering from Allentown, Pa. "This was a nice opportunity to take what we learned in our classes to help kids with disabilities."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB