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Hello, I first announced the start of my working with 4 senior engineering students from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in Janiuary 1999. The following press release summarizes the activities and results. I would like to thank those members of this list who made suggestions or contributed in other ways to our efforts. Please email or post your comments. SIncerely, Myron Greene (59,36,27) 7 March 2000 Contact: Claire Wagner OX office: (513) 529-7592 home: (513) 521-0124 ENGINEERING STUDENTS PUT CONTROL WITHIN REACH OXFORD, Ohio - The ingenuity and skills of manufacturing engineering students at Miami University and a grant from the Dayton Power & Light Company have helped bring the power and lights literally within reach for an Oxford man with Parkinson's Disease. Myron Greene can now operate 11 lights and appliances with one remote control. Movement and access within his apartment have also been improved since it was re-engineered by four students as part of a senior design course. The students first studied Parkinson's disease and talked with specialists to learn the toll the muscle-stiffening disease takes on patients. Osama Ettouney, department chair and coordinator of senior design projects, was adviser to the four students. A team of Nick Carvaines, Alex Hall and Matt Wirks designed and built a swing cabinet, similar to a bed table found in a hospital, with divided spaces for medicines, pens and other items. The three students also arranged for the refurbishing of a hospital-style bed that fits in Greene's bedroom and eases the task of getting into and out of bed. The grant paid for materials and the professional refurbisher. Senior Andrea (Andee) Beymer set up 11 lights and appliances (stereo, TV, room air conditioner, thermostat) to respond to two remote control boxes, so that Greene can turn things on and off, or dim lights without having to get up or grasp difficult controls. Funds from the DP&L grant paid for the Radio Shack X-10 system remote that Beymer configured. Greene keeps one control in the living room and one in the bedroom. "I made out like a bandit," boasts Greene, a former systems analysis instructor at Miami, who says he admired the students' problem-solving abilities. Other teams of senior design students worked to improve manufacturing processes for local businesses, created a virtual manufacturing environment with students from a university in the Czech Republic, and performed outreach programs for area scouts and elementary school students. The rigorous syllabus provides students with the continuous interaction of faculty and professionals as they perform real-world design, testing, analysis and implementation of engineering projects. Each year, five faculty members from the department advise one-to-three senior project teams. Dayton Power & Light has committed another $12,000 grant to the manufacturing engineering program this year. ----------------------