Welcome to the Mechanical Engineering Department
ME Professor Directs Students in Service Learning
Dr. Brian Self joined the Mechanical Engineering Department in September 2006 and quickly assumed an active role on campus. In addition to leading many exciting student projects which focus on service learning, he also participates in the Society for Engineering Education. Brian devotes himself to educating engineers who will strive to improve society and assist those with unique needs in their daily lives.
“At Cal Poly, we hope to graduate engineers who understand the impact that they can have on their community and on society as a whole,” he said. “One way to do this is to offer senior projects that incorporate service learning.”
In collaboration with Dr. Kevin Taylor in Kinesiology, Dr. Lynne Slivovsky in Electrical Engineering, and Dr. Jim Widmann in Mechanical Engineering, Brian has initiated a number of service learning senior design projects.
Brian advises an electrical engineering and a mechanical engineering student who teamed up to create an electronic travel aid to help those with visual impairments. Students placed ultrasonic sensors on a belt, which detect obstacles, and the user is alerted to these obstacles using tactile displays. The displays are similar to having your cell phone set on vibrate mode.
Another team of mechanical engineers and an industrial engineer built a multi-axis rotating chair to provide vestibular stimulation to children with developmental disabilities.
Under Brian’s direction, a team of mechanical engineers designed and built a test fixture to research the mechanical properties of ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) for Shiner’s Hospitals. An AFO is a plastic brace placed around the foot and lower leg to help support children with cerebral palsy.
In collaboration with the Kinesiology Department’s Adapted Physical Activity Program, Brian’s student teams have designed a Universal Play Frame that allows wheelchair users to play a number of different adapted games. The team also helped create a motorized kayak for people with mobility impairments. Brian’s current team is building a new sit ski for the US Paralympics Cross Country Team.
“These projects are complex engineering design problems,” Brian said, “But they are also extremely motivational for students, and hopefully provide our graduates with a sense of civic awareness and responsibility.”