Example: Amy Bucha, The Perry Initiative.

Examples: New System, Non-Profit/Community Partner, Systems/Dynamics, Structures, Automation/Controls, Materials Science, Measurement, Electronics, Coding, Machining & Fabrication, Failure Analysis, Microcontrollers, Computer Aided Design etc.

Example: The Perry Initiative is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the pipeline for women in under-represented fields of engineering and medicine, with a particular emphasis on medical device design, biomechanics, and orthopaedic surgery. The organization advances its mission through unique hands-on curriculum and exposure programs. The Perry Initiative’s longest running exposure program, The Perry Outreach Program (POP), invites high school women to engage in surgical simulations and biomechanics experiments in day-long programs that are run at 50+ sites across the country. Since 2009, over 10,000 young women have participated in POP, with 93% of program alumnae now enrolled in STEM majors at 4-year institutions.

Example: The goal of this project is to develop a portable mechanical test frame that can be integrated into existing POP curriculum to teach biomechanics concepts. The test frame should have sufficient capacity to destructively test whole human femur models, and it should give a read-out of maximum sustainable force. The test frame must meet strict weight, volume, and durability constraints to survive transportation and use at POP program sites across the country. Additionally, the team should be focused on ease of assembly, operator safety, and cost. Additionally, sponsor wants include the ability to conduct tension as well as compression tests on multiple anatomical models. A benchmark design has been developed through a partner institution, namely, The University of New Mexico; and the faculty member who developed this design will serve as a co-advisor for this project. The team should target development of a first generation prototype in time to conduct on-site testing at POP programs in the Mid-Atlantic region early next year.

Example: If a successful prototype is developed, The Perry Initiative will create a duplicate test frame(s) and re-write its POP curriculum to integrate biomechanical testing into the program. This test frame has the potential to impact 1,500 students per year through POP programming.