COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Ben is in preschool, but until recently he wasn't able to sit in regular chairs like his classmates due to challenges with his fine motor skills.
Now, he has an adjustable chair built specifically for him by Tennessee Tech University engineering students. They designed his chair as part of the Tech Engineering for Kids (TEK) program. It matches a child with a specific need to a team of Tech engineering students to meet the need.
“We talked with his teachers and caregivers to define Ben’s need, but it was up to us to use our engineering knowledge to provide the best solution,” Peyton Pope, one of four mechanical engineering students on the design team for the project, said.
Previously, Ben had to sit strapped into a stroller in the classroom, often at a different level than his classmates and not very comfortable.
The engineering students designed a modified car seat to attach to, and added legs which can be lowered and raised so Ben can sit at different sized tables or with his peers.
“We could have specially designed the seat portion of his chair, but we found that a modified car seat met his needs in the most economical way,” said Ian Sweetin, another student team member.
There are also lock mechanisms on the chair which allow Ben's teachers to move him around or lock the chair in place.
Ben and a more than a dozen other children in Middle Tennessee received specially engineered equipment as part of TEK.
For people of my generation, in our younger days we spent part of our weekends watching music shows like American Bandstand and Soul Train. That was before the age of music videos. Several years before Soul Train was syndicated out of Chicago, another syndicated R&B show was taped in Nashville at NewsChannel 5. Night Train aired in the 60s and included what may have been the first TV appearance for legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Forrest Sanders has another great look back at station history.
-Lelan Statom
