Our Projects

The Cunningham Clubfoot Brace team is working to adapt a novel clubfoot brace to reduce production costs through locally sustainable designs and 3D printing. The Cunningham brace utilizes a unilateral helix, which offers a more comfortable, dynamic alternative to the standard clubfoot brace treatment known as “boots and bar.” The team is partnering with HopeWalks, CURE International and Jerald Cunningham, to use biomedical engineering principles to validate the efficacy of the brace.

Project Manager: Camilo Giraldo                        Student Project Manager: Rachel Huang

Email: cgiraldo@messiah.edu                         Symposium Poster

Cerebrovascular disease refers to several conditions related to restriction in blood flow to the brain which may then lead to stroke.  This, in turn, may result in the inability to walk without some form of assistance.  The goal of the Functional Electrical Stimulation project is to research functional electrical stimulation (FES) technology and design/build a low-cost prototype as an effective intervention for improving gait post stroke.

Project Manager: Ryan Farris                           Student Project Manager: James Lim

Email: rfarris@messiah.edu                              Symposium Poster

Many people living with disability around the world are marginalized because they are perceived to be unable to participate in and contribute to community life. Furthermore, people living with disability in hard-to-reach places due to issues such as political unrest and terrorism often have no one to turn to for help. Our three-wheel, off-road, electric wheelchair is a personal transportation device that empowers persons with disabilities to travel to school and work and to more fully participate in family and community life.  The design may be fabricated by local partners without the involvement of Messiah University personnel.  We are increasing hope and quality of life by enabling local fabricators anywhere to sustainably produce and distribute our tricycles to persons with disabilities.

Project Manager: David Vader                            Student Project Manager: Riley Harro

Email: dvader@messiah.edu                              Symposium Poster

The Prosthetic Knee team is partnered with the CURE International Hospital in Kijabe, Kenya, to explore avenues in which the orthopedic workshop would be able to manufacture and provide a low-cost prosthetic knee for through-knee and trans-femoral amputees. While the hospital has commercially made knees available, a lower price point and the ability to fabricate a prosthetic knee in-country would open up an additional option for patients who would otherwise not be able to afford a prosthetic.

Project Manager: Philip Tan                             Student Project Manager: Paige Campbell

Email: ptan@messiah.edu                                  Symposium Poster

Cerebrovascular disease refers to several conditions related to restriction in blood flow to the brain which may then lead to stroke.  This, in turn, may result in the inability to walk without some form of assistance, and to the need for knee-ankle-foot orthoses (KAFOs).  The goal of the Stance Control Orthotic project is to research, design and prototype a 3Dprintable stance-control knee orthosis (SC-KO) with an any-angle locking mechanism. 

Project Manager: Ryan Farris                             Student Project Manager: Laurel Pettitt

Email: rfarris@messiah.edu                                Symposium Poster

The marketing team uses social media, graphic design, writing, and film to promote the Collaboratory and provide updates about the organization.

Chica Bean Coffee is a is a Guatemalan specialty coffee, produced by women and roasted at origin. Chica Bean partners with Tree 4 Hope ministries and Hope Academy for children in Guatemala. Chica Bean seeks to add decaffeinated coffee to their product line while keeping their on-site production model. The goal of the project is to develop a coffee decaffeination process that can be done at Chica Bean’s facility and is affordable, technically feasible, and sustainable at Chica Bean’s scale.

Project Manager: Thomas Soerens                          Student Project Manager: Aleesa Wu

Email: tsoerens@messiah.edu

Piano music inspires the heart and soothes the soul. The sustain pedal under the piano adds color and controls musical texture by connecting successive notes together. The goal of our team is to enable an accomplished pianist with paraplegia to use the full expressive capabilities of the piano by designing an assistive technology that presses the sustain pedal in response to upper-body movement.

Project Manager: Philip Graybill                     Student Project Manager: Sawyer Haney

Email: pgraybill@messiah.edu                                                            

Approximately 11 million people in Latin America and 481 million people in the least developed countries (United Nations classification) lack access to electricity, according to 2021 data from the World Bank. This is often due to rural and remote living conditions without power grid connectivity. Many of these locations, especially in mountainous regions or on the coasts, have ample wind resources that can be used to generate electricity on or off the grid. The Streamlining Wind Turbines team at the Collaboratory provides engineering support to WindAid in Peru. As blade repair and replacement is crucial to providing consistent power generation, the team is currently designing improvements to streamline blade maintenance. Additionally, a performance monitoring system is being designed to capture a baseline for turbine performance.

Project Manager: Tim Burdett                                                Student Project Manager: Ethan Regula

Email:tburdett@messiah.edu                                                      

Farming is one of the largest forms of employment in Zambia; however, efficient and innovative forms of farming are not available to the community due to cost and lack of awareness. The Zambia Seeder team is working with Tony Beers (Brethren in Christ Church) to design and implement a low-cost manual seeder. The project’s final product will allow Zambian farmers to cover more ground when farming, as well as plant their seeds more accurate which increases yield.

More information to come.

Project Manager: Camilo Giraldo                                Student Project Manager: Shekinah Ellis

Email: cgiraldo@messiah.edu