AIDS FOR ELDERLY DEVELOPED BY NUIG STUDENTS

Date Published: 02-Mar-2008

AIDS for the elderly, have been developed by students at the Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering faculties at NUIG.The items designed may be of use for over 30 practical problems encountered by older people and the physically impaired.The projects are part of a service-learning programme, designed to allow students apply academic knowledge for the benefit of others. Among the ideas developed by the students this year are: an orthopaedic schoolbag; a self-locking medicine cabinet; a collapsible walking aid; a device to help wheelchair users manoeuvre a wheelie bin; a ring-mounted panic alarm; and a machine for making peanut butter designed for an AIDS centre in Zimbabwe.In one of the projects, an outdoor exercise machine for the elderly has been created by modifying a bicycle and attaching it to a standard park bench. The device allows a person to sit comfortably on the bench, while exercising their lower limbs by pedalling.