Design for 90, an undergraduate student organization, is currently creating a device to help a woman with limited hand mobility pick things up. Credit: Courtesy of Samuel Redman
Ohio State students are bringing technological solutions to communities and individuals in Columbus, Ohio, who have disabilities or cannot afford certain resources.
Design for 90, an undergraduate student organization, is creating solutions for those who are underserved in Columbus. The group, which started in 2015, is comprised mostly of engineering and business students who work together to create projects that benefit the community, Mia Feist, a fourth-year in civil engineering and co-president of Design for 90, said.
“We work closely with the underserved portions of Columbus, and that is how we got our name,” Feist said. “In engineering, you design for the top 10 percent of the population, and Design for 90 looks at the bottom 90 percent to make their lives better.”
The project-based organization focuses on individuals’ needs through each project, Feist said.
“We are working with individuals as opposed to making things just for the sake of making things,” Feist said. “We learn about the individual and create something personalized that at the end they get to keep and use.”
Samuel Redman, a third-year in mechanical engineering and co-president of Design for 90, said the group’s first project was an adapted spoon designed and built for a nonverbal resident of an adult home who only had one finger.
Design for 90 currently has four projects in the works, the latest being a device to help a woman with limited hand mobility pick things up.
This semester, the organization partnered with Creative Living, an organization in Columbus that provides housing and support to people with physical disabilities, to make the idea come to life, Redman said.
Students pitch projects to the organization, or outside sources seek out the group’s help, Feist said. For the current project, a member of the organization volunteered with Creative Living in the past spring semester and brought the idea to Design for 90.
Feist said the organization has a wide range of students, and many of the project ideas stem from students’ personal interests.
Once a project is chosen, the organization sees the process through to completion. Members start by brainstorming and narrowing down ideas, then make a rough design, estimate a cost and create a prototype that is tested until they are satisfied with the outcome, Feist said.
Redman said the organization pays for the projects and gets funding by fundraising through volunteer work, as well as winning awards for past projects.
For an engineering student, this is a great way to experience real-life application of what they have learned in the classroom, Redman said.
“It gives us engineering experience that we do not get in our classes, where we are just taking notes and tests,” Redman said. “You can really see the first-hand impacts you are making in individuals’ lives.”
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