Aspiring engineers from RPI recently tested their skills while helping students in the Menands School.
Students from the Engineering Design class at the prestigious college worked recently with students who receive services from Menands
Physical Therapist Jill Hepp and Occupational Therapy Assistant Carly Galvin.
The college students were challenged to develop ways to focus the attention of students who struggle when their ability to move around the classroom is lessened as they get older. Hepp and Galvin asked the engineering students to develop tools that are discreet, affordable, durable, adjustable and provide 
different options for individual sensory needs.
During a mid-December visit to Menands, a pair of the engineering students tested their designs on a pair of Menands students— fifth grade student Colin Guynup and third grade student Killian Blanchette.
During a frenetic half-hour the students tested a modified school chair that had a swivel seat and various items that would attach to it for students to use.
“This is the worst version of this, and I think it tested pretty well,” said Kaelan Parkin, a junior from RPI. “It’s only going to get better as the design evolves and we input the feedback.”
Classmate Richard Ospina said the visit to the classroom and interaction with students is crucial to the design process.
“Watching the students and getting their feedback was just as important as getting the feedback from the teachers who will make the decisions on what to use,” said Richard Ospina, a RPI sophomore.
Galvin and Hepp praised the design and the work of the college students.
“This is an appropriate [technology] and will keep the students in one area, allowing them more time in a classroom. It’s excellent,” Galvin said.
Hepp concurred.
“All of the steel [material in the design] is fully covered and the straps secure the parts. You did a great job making it safe,” Hepp said.
It is the second time RPI students have leant their knowledge to Menands School students and, in the process, gained skills, knowledge and experience for themselves.
Last year, students from the Engineering Design class helped a then-Kindergarten student by designing technology that helped the youngster transfer from his wheelchair while another RPI student contingent developed technology to improve his fine motor activities.