Team Poly-Scientific Design of Cleveland State University (CSU) won the Stretch Your Mind Engineering Challenge competition, sponsored by Parker. The CSU team won with their knee flexion and orientation monitoring application.
The Stretch Your Mind competition challenged students to design an original market solution using Parker’s electroactive polymer (EAP) sensor technology. Since January, teams have had the real-world experience of identifying an application, designing a solution and planning for its deployment into the market.
Team ROM 2.0 from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville took second place, and Team Hands Up from Catholic University of America took third.
Team Poly-Scientific Design focused their project on sports medicine and other athletic settings. Students Nattawat Sunpituksaree, Christopher Schroeck, Brianna McKinney, Gianfranco Trovato and Michael Hanson investigated the viability of Parker’s EAP high-strain sensors as a monitoring apparatus in the prevention of athletic injuries. They also identified the associated market potential of such an application.
Based on their research, the team designed a device that monitors the flexion and orientation of the knee, which are the main contributors to stress levels on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The device would allow health care providers to identify the ranges of motion that increase the risk of ACL injury, as well as the motions that prevent it.
