Author: jayhanckel
Jay Hanckel Round 5: A Silence of Three Parts
(Side note: my title is a reference to the prologue and epilogues of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, Book 1 of the Kingkiller Chronicles. If you want a book series that is on par with Lord of the Rings, read the Kingkiller Chronicles and feel the torture of waiting for book three)
It’s over. We’re done; we’re finished; we’re through.
The video presentations went rather well. Considering how much time we had to work on them, on top of the fact that hardly any of us really knew how to do video editing, the projects were entertaining and clearly well researched. I am a little envious of a couple of groups projects since they got so far, such as the RA group. I was also thoroughly impressed with the breadth of projects that we got to see, and how creative people got with the solutions with roughly three weeks to prepare everything. I’m incredibly proud of my group and the amount of thought and research we put into our project.
Looking back on any class, I always wonder if the ends justified the means or vice versa. I would say, for this class, the ends did not justify the means, but the means justified the ends. In other words, this class emphasized the process rather than the result, which was especially noticeable when my results usually did not turn out well whether it was the PHP or the final project. Shadowing and interviewing doctors and patients was an incredible experience, one that I didn’t think I would be able to do for a class. I wouldn’t necessarily say I have more tools to solve problems than I had before (Intro to Rehab Engineering did that already), but it certainly gave me more confidence in going out and taking that initiative to get the job done.
Now, I’m going to slip into a coma for a while.
Jay Hanckel- Round 4: The Eye of the Storm
Well I’m smack dab in the middle of putting together the final video with Katherine and Andrew. I’ve done presentations and projects like this before (see BME 2000 and Intro to Rehab), and I’m still uncomfortable with presenting an incomplete device. We have the code, the schematics, knowledge that the device would work, a 3D rendering of what our full blown device would look like, etc. Our video even looks good, which is pleasantly surprising since none of us have video editing experience. If only we had more time to actually make the device and actually test it with patients.
That’s always been a gripe I’ve had with design based classes. Granted, they are my favorite kind of classes because I can FINALLY work with my hands like I’m an engineering major or something. However, as important as information gathering and needs statements are, I mostly want to get Capstone started so I can have a full year to see a project through to the end. In the meantime, I’m going back to the whiteboard. Literally. You’ll see in the video.
Jay Hanckel- Round 3: The Calm before the Storm
I should have been making more entries about my project, but alas time is not my friend this semester. I’ve finally found a weekend where I’m not drowning in work from the various facets of my life, so now seems like a good time as any to talk about the final project. My team has decided to focus on patients with CP (cerebral palsy) and the kinds of braces they use. We’ve met with 3 or 4 doctors about the subject as well as the best way that we could approach it in a timely manner, even though we have two weeks left to work on the project. At first, we wanted to try to help patients be more proactive in the brace-fitting process, so they wouldn’t have to be in discomfort for weeks until they could get a new brace. However, our mentors showed us that patients didn’t really notice the braces causing any irritation, so discomfort hasn’t been an issue in that regard. Our back up plan was to find a way to decrease the bulk of the braces (specifically ankle-foot orthotics, or AFOs) so patients could wear a more diverse range of shoes and demonstrate more functional independence. However, that would involve delving into a competitive market that we do not have the time for. So, our final project is going to revolve around orthotic compliance, meaning that the device tracks how often the patient is using the device. The doctors and orthotic technicians we talked to indicated that this would be the most helpful feature if added to the usual AFOs. So, after redoing our needs statement and criteria, we are sketching out solutions for tracking AFO usage.
In other news, we are also making a video for our final project (or that’s my interpretation of it). I’m actually very excited and concerned about doing this kind of work because I have a lot of ideas for how to handle the video and how to include all of the information, but I have zero experience with video editing. I don’t have a Mac, so we’ll see how well that goes.
Jay- Round 2: College is not healthy
We finished our first Personal Health Plans (PHPs) today, which means that we get to do this all over again on a completely different area of healthy lifestyles we want to improve… swell. I think I’m a terrible partner in some ways; not because I don’t provide information or anything, but because a lot of unhealthy habits I have are not by choice but by the result of necessary work and travel hours. This applies to a lot of people in the class too, especially when we are all obviously doing similar workloads this semester.
Actually, I find this a good lesson in empathy and sympathy. It’s pretty easy to tell someone to shut up and do something because it’s good for them and you know best and blah blah blah. It’s another thing when you fully understand the stress that your “patient” has to deal with on a monthly, weekly, daily… hell, even hourly basis, and then tell them that they need to do it to make their lives easier. The question then becomes what is the bare necessities to make their lifestyle functional but their’s.
Jay- Round 1
Name: Jay Hanckel
Age, year: 21, 3rd year
Major: …. you get one guess
Hometown: Charlotte, NC; moved to Norfolk, VA about a year or two ago
Clubs/Activities: Navy ROTC, Tae Kwon Do, Breakdancing
From the class: I want to develop my understanding of prosthetics and rehabilitation treatments/devices in order to help anyone I can to feel like they belong in any society. I want to help people get back to 100% or better than where they were before, physically.
Why I’m here: I believe that the disabled and permanently injured can be repaired, if desired. In my studies, I want to figure out how to get man and machine to work together to make someone feel whole again, or even better than before. I think human augmentation is a wonderful goal and should be achieved, so long as it is done ethically and safely.
Fun Fact: In my high school career, I’ve had 6 concussions; throughout that time, my grades improved as I gained more concussions.
BME Design 