Student Engineers, with Tech Shop Support,
Modify DSS Cart

DSS student assistants Dolores Hunt and Michelle Goforth (passenger) demonstrate the cart.

When Sandy Parsons came to Disability Support Services a few years ago, she discovered that a cart that had been purchased fairly recently to transport students did not meet some basic safety and ease-of-use criteria. The necessary retrofits were major and required some expert engineering and machine work.

The problems with the cart included a heavy ramp that had to be lowered and raised by hand, no wheelchair tie-downs, and a wheelchair space that required the passenger to face the side.

The cart modification is just the kind of project that the Mechanical Engineering Program looks for as a senior project: a two-semester, hands-on, real-world experience that seniors must complete for a degree. Once a project is identified and approved by a faculty member, a team of students manages all aspects of the engineering process, from initial design to final fabrication and testing.

A student team under the leadership of senior Lauren Westgate worked on this cart modification project under the supervision of Steve Eckart, Tech Shop III, College of Engineering. “The students in ECC are able to hit the ground running with this hands-on experience,” said Eckart. “Many engineering programs at other universities focus largely on design, giving their students little or no opportunity to build something before graduation. A senior project like the DSS cart is truly an education in the real, day-to-day world of the engineer.”

“The cart,” said Eckart, “was a complex system and a big project. It required the two semesters of work from the students and then some. When the spring 2008 semester came to a close, the students were able to present a cart that was mechanically complete but still required additional work on the ramp drive and control system.”

That finishing work was left to the Tech Shop, where another full-time technician and a part-time technician assist Eckart. “Everyone associated with the Tech Shop contributed a significant number of hours to this project, both before and after the senior students graduated,” said Eckart.

Parsons is grateful for the end result, which is a cart that is now safe, functional, and easy to use. “Cart rides are really important at DSS. Requests for the service have increased 66 percent this year,” said Parsons. “In fall 2008, we provided 1,287 cart rides for students and visitors across campus. The cart that the engineering students retrofitted is vital to our provision of legal and safe transportation to someone using a wheelchair. They did an amazing job.”

—Kathleen McPartland, Public Affairs and Publications

From left: Mechanical technician and master machinist Mike Renwick has worked in the College of ECC Mechanical Tech Shop for more than 20 years. Tech Shop supervisor Steve Eckart, an Electro-Mechanical Systems Technician, joined the College of ECC four and one-half years ago after nearly 20 years in the aircraft industry. Junior Andrew Libby, a student in mechatronics engineering, has worked in the Tech Shop as a student assistant for a little over a year. Andrew also fabricated many of the custom parts for the DSS cart. Stephen Foute is a graduate student currently working toward a specialized master’s degree in biodiesel production for third-world countries. He has worked as a student assistant in the Tech Shop for more than two years and is a skilled welder and machinist. Stephen fabricated several components for the DSS cart and helped fabricate the ramp control and actuation system on the cart. Tech Shop Heroes