Miami Student

Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: Front Page

Miami's chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers created an easel for senior Matt Addison so that he could paint in his wheelchair.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) presented a remote-controlled easel to senior Matt Addison Thursday, April 24 in front of the students and professors.

In September 2006, the student organization's adviser, Bob Setlock, was approached by Addison's physical therapist to build an easel that could overcome Addison's limitations of painting in a wheelchair.

"The easel is made with clamps to work with different size canvases," said ASME president, senior Asha Ananthu. "With a remote it moves vertically and horizontally so he can reach places better in his wheelchair."

According to Ananthu, the creation and completion of the easel is a milestone for the two-year-old organization. She said that ASME hopes to continue the tradition of community service in the future.

After Addison's therapist contacted ASME about the possibility of designing a remote-controlled easel and some members of the organization were able to see his work, junior, Eddie Rivera, vice president of ASME, said the group was inspired to help out their fellow student.

At the presentation, Addison saw the completed project for the first time.

"This has revolutionized my ability to do art," Addison said.

According to Ananthu, the project began with about 30 students in ASME working as a team to design and eventually create the easel.

According Rivera, the amount of students helping out along the way dwindled to about six after several roadblocks, including ASME members graduating and other design issues.

"We had a few obstacles going from the design standpoint into fabrication and had to make some modifications," Rivera said. "A lot of pieces didn't fit and had to be modified."

Ananthu said ASME had to work around several vacations in the midst of working on the project.

"It was an ongoing project because when summer came no one worked on it and coming back to school we had to get back into the swing of things," Ananthu said.

According to Rivera, plans were made to get the easel done sooner. However, due to obstacles the perseverance and dedication of ASME members finally got it done.

Continued...

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