Hi! I’m Bonnie, and I am an aspiring bioengineer sophomore from Duncan. I love being a part of RPC (Rice Program Council) and the Beer Bike planning committee, but also taking naps in my free time!

I am very proud of the product my team and I developed in our ENGI 100 project. We designed and 3D printed an assistive Chapstick device for the elderly, who are more prone to having dexterity handicaps. Dry lips can become extremely uncomfortable, but to open and use Chapstick requires fine motor skills, forcing the elderly to rely on another person to relieve them of their discomfort. Therefore, our device offers low-dexterity elderly to operate Chapstick and afford them independence. After applying the engineering design process and a Pugh Screening Matrix to select our design, we individually CAD each part of the device. Then, we used the files to 3D print the pieces and assembled them together by hand. In the end, we were able to produce a fully-functioning device that passed all of its tests and meets its design criteria.

In the future, I hope to be able to create a prosthetic arm controlled by the brain. Instead of having wiring to nearby parts of the body, this device would have the ability to receive signals directly from the user’s brain, allowing for increased agility and accuracy.

In ENGI 120, I hope to sharpen my skills in plasma and laser cutting, and hopefully, by the end of it, I am able to laser cut acrylic into pieces of decoration and jewelry!