As I began to do research for my research assessments I began to notice how I had been continually looking up how engineers are used to make prosthetics. I have always been interested in the medical field but never wanted to be a doctor. My Dad is a doctor and the work he does, does not interest me. Once I did more research on prosthetics I quickly became fascinated and knew that I wanted to do something with the field.

 

    Many people associate engineers as the ones who are building the product, but in reality they are also very involved in the designing of the product based on what type of engineering you are doing. For my original work I was chose to design a prosthetic and hope to try and build it for my final product. The motive behind making a prosthetic came from an article I read that talked about how there is not prosthetic that is inexpensive for children. I started out with that statement and built on it. I tried to build an inexpensive prosthetic that children can use for there earlier years of life. With this objective I knew that I may not be able to utilize every aspect of a perfect prosthetics. In my mind the essentials were to make it lightweight and inexpensive. I had to be creative when it came to the functionality of it. I knew that adding a motor and sensors to make if fully robotic would cost to much for families. I decided to make it movable, but the kid would be able to adjust the fingers to the position that is needed.

 

    I thought that I was able to come up with a viable solution to a real world problem that is affecting kids all around the world. Although it may not be the best arm on the market I knew that I was able to provide families with an option that would help the kid with his needs and would make the kid feel normal. In a lot of cases the kids love having a robotic looking arm because it makes them stand out among the rest.

 

    Through my Original work I was able to learn many things about ISM and how I work. I quickly learned that by doing this project I was able to use real world skills that professionals in my field of work do, that I did not even know I knew. I was able to apply the skills I have learned taking engineering courses which I felt like I used to my advantage because I was able to reference back to a source. This project also taught me a lot about my work ethic because I put a lot of time into this project and used a lot of my knowledge. I was also very proud because I was able to turn my own ideas into a real product.

 

    If another project that may interest me comes up I would like to continue to research and hopefully make a prototype for my final project. To raise the bar for my final project I would like to create a tangible product to show everyone what I was able to accomplish during my ISM 1 experience. I also think I can improve my product by talking with my mentor about it. All in all I was very excited to work on this project and thought I put a great deal of effort toward it.