Design Thinking and Communication, The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
Project Manager, Design Engineer
September 2015 - June 2016
Through the Design Thinking and Communication course, I had the opportunity to work with patients of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), applying the principles of human-centered design to real-world cases. My team and I addressed two different problems, the difficulty of washing dishes with hemiplegia and painting with quadriplegia.
This device helps patients with quadriplegia engage in mouthstick painting, helping them improve their neck mobility. Although RIC was already using this type of therapy, it took at least three therapists to help the patient hold up the canvas and apply paint to the brushes.
We ultimately developed a 2-part solution. The first is a motorized canvas that can move up, down, and side to side, eliminating the need to be held up by therapists. The second component was a rotating palette stand and control pad. The rotating palette allowed the user to easily choose his paint and apply it the brush, while control bad allowed for easy control of the canvas location.