Russ College team places in SourceAmerica’s IDEATE Competition

Students in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology develop solutions to real world problems every day.

In their senior design course, mechanical engineering students were tasked with making job experiences more accessible for people with disabilities at SW Resources, a nonprofit in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Their innovative design earned their place as a finalist in SourceAmerica’s IDEATE competition. 

Mechanical engineering students Nidhal Al Qasmi, Anna Crabtree, Meagan Hamilton, Taylor Mazzone, Laura Ndoigo and Cameron Roback had one common goal — develop a labelling system for garden stakes for the people employed at SW Resources. SW Resources specializes in identifying employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Through their senior design capstone, these students needed to work closely with SW Resources to optimize a design that solves a real-world problem in their organization. 

SW Resources asked that the team address the need to make the process of labeling garden stakes more accessible for their employees with limited mobility. Streamlining this process would not only make it more efficient, but also empower employees as they overcome the day-to-day challenges of their job. 

“Employees currently find this task challenging due to the precise alignment needs of the sticker on the stakes and the PPE, such as gloves, which makes handling stickers difficult. Employees with limited mobility are unable to do these tasks due to these requirements,” said Crabtree. 

The team designed a stake labeling machine to address this problem. The machine allows users to place a stack of stakes into a slot and then using a handle, they can wrap the label around the bundle. This ensures that the label is perfectly aligned with the stakes, while improving accessibility for users. 

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“We are planning on making Prototype 4, which includes a polyurethane coat for health and safety, so it can be cleaned easily. We will also give SW Resources an instruction manual and CAD files, so they can build the labeler themselves,” said Hamilton. 

As the team began putting the final touches on their project, they realized that it would be a great candidate for SourceAmerica’s IDEATE competition, so they created a video detailing the problem, the project and the metrics measuring its success. They were named a finalist in the contest, presenting their project on April 13, 2022. As a finalist, they won an award for Ohio University, as well as an award for their nonprofit partner, SW Resources. 

“All of the people who weren’t able to [label stakes] will now have this option as a job. It makes us feel really good to know that we are now advocates for people with disabilities in the workforce,” finished Hamilton.