DESIGN PROJECT - SWIMMING DEVICE

I worked with a team of three other students to design a swimming device for a young girl from local family in Terre Haute, Indiana. The girl was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and autism when she was very young and as a result she is partially paralyzed and has restricted lower body movement. The family approached my team and I with an original design, hoping that we could improve it. We focused on creating a stable seat for the girl to sit in that would put her in a swimming position so that she would be able to kick her legs. We made an adjustable device that would grow with the girl so that she could use it for many years. The device consists of a polyethylene foam and nylon fabric seat, and a PVC frame with pool noodles for additional flotation. For this project my team and I had to think outside the box to come up with solutions and I had to learn new skills to fabricate this device. Below are links to local Terre Haute news stories that the device was featured on and a video of the girl using the device for the first time.