Seattle’s first-ever “” will bring together students, faculty and clinicians in a hackathon-style, 24-hour event that challenges two dozen graduate and undergraduate students to design creative improvements to an existing 3-D printed prosthetic hand.
Research teams from the 91±¬ÁÏ, 91±¬ÁÏ Bothell and Seattle Pacific University have been designing and printing prosthetic hands, and now they’re hoping a larger community of students can help improve the design with a little friendly competition.
“We are hoping for lots of fun, energy and innovation,” said , a 91±¬ÁÏ assistant professor of mechanical engineering and the event’s sponsor.
About 25 students from the three campuses will be participating in the 24-hour event, which goes from 6 p.m. today until 6 p.m. Saturday on the second floor of the 91±¬ÁÏ’s Mechanical Engineering Building. Professors, clinicians and professionals who design prosthetics and orthotics will be on hand throughout the event to give advice and be a resource for students. The , Ivan Owen of 91±¬ÁÏ Bothell, will also available to advise students.
The goal for the event is to make improvements to the hand’s design, ranging from functional changes such as a thumb that enables more movement to innovative, imaginative additions such as a thumb drive placed in the hand’s thumb. Each team will have a 3-D printer to use as well as access to software, tools and electronics for their designs.
Designs that result from the handathon will be uploaded to the open-source community for others to build upon and further develop.
People are invited to stop by at 5 p.m. on Saturday to watch the last hour of competition and presentations by each team. The audience will vote on the winning design.
Steele and students in her at the 91±¬ÁÏ organized the event, along with , a 91±¬ÁÏ professor of mechanical engineering; Sue Spaulding, a 91±¬ÁÏ teaching associate in rehabilitation medicine; Pierre Mourad and Owen at 91±¬ÁÏ Bothell; and Adam Arabian at Seattle Pacific University.
from the event.