{"id":363442,"date":"2019-02-11T14:59:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T19:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=363442"},"modified":"2019-04-04T16:50:08","modified_gmt":"2019-04-04T20:50:08","slug":"student-designed-bubble-machine-childrens-hospital-363442","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/student-designed-bubble-machine-childrens-hospital-363442\/","title":{"rendered":"Student-designed bubble machine a hit at children\u2019s hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWow!\u201d<\/p>\n

Gracyn Chappell\u2019s eyes widened appreciably as she approached a mysterious tube filled with water in the play room at Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cPush the buttons, baby,\u201d Kate Chappell prompts her 5-year-old daughter, who was completing a 22-day stay at the hospital.<\/p>\n

And just like that, air bubbles began gurgling up through the water. They are tinted with red, then green, blue, purple, and pink light as Gracyn enthusiastically pushes different color-coded buttons.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my goodness!\u201d she exclaims gleefully.<\/p>\n

Clearly, the \u201cBiscotti Bubble Machine\u201d \u2014 created as a senior design project by University of Rochester chemical engineering students \u2014 is a big hit with Gracyn.<\/p>\n

The Golisano nurses and specialists who gathered for the unveiling are impressed as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to normalize the experiences of the children who come here as much as possible,\u201d says Geri Sehnert, a child life specialist in Golisano\u2019s pediatric surgical center. \u201cWhen we can give them things like this to interact with, that let the children experience normal sensations, it makes a big difference in their healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really impressed at how the students took all the information we gave them and were able to create a device that will work for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it took only one semester.<\/p>\n

Applying classroom learning to a \u2018real-world\u2019 challenge<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Each year, teams of Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a> seniors in ABET-accredited majors complete a culminating design project. The projects are often sponsored by outside companies or agencies, including a previous collaboration with Golisano to design an accelerometer to monitor chest wall movement for children on mechanical ventilation. The projects allow the students to apply what they\u2019ve learned in class to \u201creal world\u201d projects with \u201creal world\u201d time and design constraints.<\/p>\n

In this case, Wendy Lane, Golisano\u2019s Child Life program coordinator, proposed a smaller version of a large bubble machine the hospital already has \u2013 one that could be used at a child\u2019s bedside and be easily operated even by a child with physical disabilities.<\/p>\n

Rachel Monfredo, lecturer and senior technical associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering<\/a>, pitched the project to the department\u2019s seniors last fall. \u201cThey jumped on it,\u201d she says. \u201cWe actually had two teams that both really wanted to work on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tiwalade Dairo, Bradley Porceng, Charles (C.J.) Ruff, and Benjamin Walker won the \u201croll of a dice.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Walker noted in the team\u2019s final presentation, they had to overcome several challenges and work through numerous designs to create a device that would:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. not easily tip over, but still be portable, waterproof, and easy to clean.<\/li>\n
  2. integrate button-activated LED lighting, a water pump, and an Arduino control board within the base.<\/li>\n
  3. easily generate a \u201csoothing\u201d combination of bubbles and colors within the water column protruding out of the top of the base.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cEach of us have had some coding background, but this project was really coding and wiring intensive,\u201d says Dairo. So, the students took tutorials and got extra help in Arduino programming from Scott Russell, a lecturer and senior technical associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    The team debated whether to put the light activating buttons on a separate control box, which is still an option. However, in the interests of time, they ended up incorporating the buttons into the base.<\/p>\n

    Thanks to John Miller, the senior laboratory engineer who runs the machine shop in Taylor Hall, they delivered their working prototype on time.<\/p>\n

    \"child
    THANK YOU:<\/strong> Chemical engineering seniors C.J. Ruff, Tiwalade Dairo, and\u00a0Bradley Porceng get a thank you from Golisano Children’s Hospital patient\u00a0Gracyn Chappell. University of Rochester photo \/ Bob Marcotte)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u201cWe want to give a huge-shout out to John,\u201d Porceng says. Miller used the students\u2019 CAD designs to fabricate several of the components, and \u201cturned them around in less than 24 hours, which was hugely helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Best of all, Ruff estimates, the cost of materials for the device \u2013 not counting labor and fabrication \u2013 is only about $125. \u201cSo, a positive takeaway from this is that we can cheaply replicate these units for much less than the one in use at the hospital,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

    More bubble machines planned<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    And Monfredo definitely has replication in mind.<\/p>\n

    She has turned over the design team\u2019s \u201cfantastic senior report\u201d \u2013 with detailed instructions for building the device \u2013 to the Toys for All Tots<\/a> student group she supervises. That group already has been adapting battery operated toys so children with physical disabilities can interact with them through enabling switches. Paul Irving \u201821, the technical manager for Toys for All Tots, says the bubble machine project \u201cseems super cool. I would definitely be interested in building and improving them.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The group will work with Miller on creating additional bubble machines for Golisano \u201cso you don\u2019t have just one; you could have a dozen,\u201d Monfredo says. Community agencies that serve disabled children have also expressed interested in obtaining the device.<\/p>\n

    Porceng is also working with students in an entrepreneurship class taught by Duncan Moore, the assistant provost for entrepreneurship, on developing a business plan.<\/p>\n

    In the meantime, the Biscotti Bubble Machine team is basking in the glow of a job well done.<\/p>\n

    \u201cSo, did we reach our goals? We believe we did,\u201d Dairo says. \u201cIt was a fun project to work on, and we\u2019re glad we did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The ultimate validation came from 5-year-old Gracyn Chappell. Twice, she broke away from the bubble machine to run over and hug the students.<\/p>\n

    \u201cMy heart was just melting,\u201d Porceng says.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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