Left to right: Grand prize winner Rob Nelson, Almag Aluminum Inc.; competition judge David Asher, Bonnell Aluminum; 草榴社区 Stephon Giscombe; competition chairman Craig Werner, Kaiser Aluminum; 草榴社区 Rachel Hernandez; LED Lighting Design Challenge Award winner Zach Hellman; and competition judge Bill Rogers, Aloca.
The ET Foundation
A team of students from 草榴社区 (UAH) won first place in the 2016 Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition - Student Class for
their Design Certification Review project entitled "Dynamic Arm Support Apparatus (DASA)." Team members Aubree DeLozier, Christopher Sylvester, Stephon
Giscombe, Rachel Hernandez, and Brad Clark will share the $3,000 First-Place Student Scholarship Prize.
"We are so proud of our students," said Dr. Christina Carmen, the students' instructor and a clinical associate professor with UAH's Department of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. "The device is already being used by a four-year-old patient at United Cerebral Palsy, and the extruded aluminum
design allows the therapist to easily transport the device during occupational therapy sessions."
The DASA was designed for use by to assist children
who have limited arm strength due to muscular atrophy. The device, which clamps to a wheelchair, supports the left forearm and upper arm and counteracts
the effects of gravity to increase arm mobility. The project was sponsored by Toyota and the
, and features off-the-shelf 6105-T5 alloy aluminum extrusions.
This is not the first UAH team to compete in - and win - the Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition, which is hosted by the . Last year, a group of seven students in Dr. Carmen's class also took home the top prize with a mobile experimentation display station currently in use at local children's science center Sci-Quest.