Students use technology for people with disabilities -- from UW Media Relations

Helping people with disabilities to make the most of the latest technologies is the focus of a special exhibit to be held at the University of Waterloo on Wednesday.

Systems Design Engineering students will present the design exhibit on assistive technologies for various disabilities from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Davis Centre, Room 1301, on the UW campus.

"Twelve groups will exhibit innovative proof of concept designs demonstrating functioning prototypes as well as the envisioned final form of a device or system that solves a particular need associated with a disability or disabling condition or chronic illness," said UW Prof. John Zelek, Systems Design Engineering.

"The problems faced by people trying to cope with disabling conditions are real, difficult to solve with affordable solutions and need to be addressed by our future engineers."

The exhibit is part of a third-year engineering design course in the Systems Design Engineering department in UW's Faculty of Engineering.

The design theme of this year's offering of the course is assistive technology, focusing on product design and taking the design process up to the concept prototype stage. The students have consulted with at least one person who is currently living with the condition chosen in their projects.

Each of the 12 groups has picked a design problem from one of these conditions: arthritis neuro-fibromatosis, aged, hearing impairment, multiple handicaps, stroke, Alzeihmer's disease, narcolepsy, multiple sclerosis, amputation, Parkinson's disease and physical disability.

About 10 per cent of the world's population is over the age of 60 and by 2050, this proportion is projected to double.

"As our average population ages, there will be an ever growing need to help people cope with conditions, that is disabilities, which threaten and impair their quality of life," Zelek said. "We did not necessarily focus on the older demographic, but they are the ones that will mostly benefit from this technology in the near future."

Zelek invited the campus community and the public to see the various demonstrations, as well as to talk to the design groups and learn more about the growing need for assistive technology for various physical, cognitive and emotional impairments.

Record rainfall on Saturday

Good news from the University of Waterloo's Weather Station – a record amount of rain fell last weekend.

The final rainfall total for Saturday, alone, was 59.2 mm. "This is the highest one day total we have ever recorded at the Waterloo Weather Station," said Frank Seglenieks, Station Coordinator. The station opened in February 1998.

"The previous record was July 31, 2004 when we had 40.6 mm. The rainfall this past Saturday was also more that we had in the entire month of May or June."

Seglenieks said the total precipitation for July has been 84.4 mm, less than the long term average of 92.9 mm, adding that "we still have two weeks to go."

Located on UW's north campus beside Columbia Lake, the station uses equipment provided for educational and research purposes by the Meteorologial Service of Canada, a division of Environment Canada. The station is maintained by the Civil Engineering  department.

As well, UW's Faculty of Environmental Studies has added two micrometeorological towers and instrumentation for studies in boundary layer processes, such as those that drive weather and long-term climate models

U of Michigan takes the lead in NASC; UW in fifth

Midnight Sun VIII appears at a recent community event. The student solar race car is one of twenty university teams from across the United States and Canada competing in the North American Solar Challenge, which began in Austin, Texas, last Sunday and ends in Calgary, Alberta, on July 27.

During the first day of the North American Solar Challenge (NASC) -- the 2,500-mile (4,022-kilometre) cross-country solar car challenge that began in Austin, Texas on Sunday and ends on July 27 in Calgary, Alberta -- three teams have claimed early lead positions.

As of 9 p.m. CDT Sunday, the University of Michigan moved into first place after a day of driving. The University of Minnesota and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are in second and third place.

All three teams reached Weatherford, Texas, a distance of 211 miles from Austin. The University of Missouri-Rolla, the defending champions, and the University of Waterloo also made it to Weatherford and are in fourth and fifth place. Twenty cars are participating in the contest.

With today's results, Michigan has the overall race lead with the lowest cumulative time. Only one minute separates Michigan, at 4 hours, 3 minutes and 25 seconds and second place team Minnesota, 4:04:26.

The University of Waterloo played it safe and conserved their batteries early but soon changed their strategy when they learned the cloudy weather was improving as they went north. Waterloo finished the leg 10 minutes behind Missouri-Rolla, 30 minutes behind the leaders.

Here's a report from the Midnight Sun VIII team, which was the ninth car to begin rolling: "Right away, we started passing cars. Although the weather was cloudy (we actually had rain for a bit), we kept the speed at a relatively snappy pace of 55 mph. Because the variable gap wasn't working, that was also conveniently our top speed as well.

"Toward the end of the day, the sky cleared up, allowing us to start charging the pack as we drove. The stage went from Austin, Texas to Weatherford, Texas. By the time we got to the stage stop, we had passed four teams and had jumped into fifth ranked!"

The North American Solar Challenge is an educational event in which participants build and drive cars whose only source of fuel is the sun. The car with the fastest cumulative time will win the competition.

The racers use photovoltaic (solar) cells to convert sunlight into electricity to power their cars. Weather and energy management play important roles in the race.

The cars usually travel at highway speeds and are required to obey local speed limits, but in general, the sunnier the day, the faster and farther the cars can run. Brighter days also allow the cars to "fill up" their batteries for cloudy or rainy days. The vehicles are low and sleek, with solar cells covering much of the upper car body.

Official daily results will be posted at this website. Final cumulative times are based on actual time, plus time penalties for rules infractions. For more about Midnight Sun VIII, visit their website.

The contest is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Natural Resources Canada, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, TransAlta, University of Calgary, CSI Wireless, AMD and Manitoba Transportation and Government Services.

C&PA