Juniors at Shadow Ridge High School in Surprise, Ariz., use 3D printers, laser cutters, and a lot of glue to prototype prosthetic arms that solve a variety of problems. It’s a challenge inspired by the five-time Paralympic archer Eric Bennett, who happens to be their engineering teacher.
This cohort got to watch as Bennett competed for Team USA at the Paralympic games in Paris last summer.
After losing his arm as a teenager, Bennett—already an avid archer—had to find a new way to shoot an arrow.
“Early in my archery career, I prototyped a mechanical release that I wear on my shoulder,” Bennett said. “But going through that design process really helped me understand that that same process would be excellent for my high school kids to go through.”
Bennett models the lesson after real-world engineering design processes.
First, he meets with groups of students as a mock client to present them with the challenge: build a way to hold a fishing rod with one arm, make it easier to play video games one-handed, design something to play fetch with a dog. Students then do preliminary research on solutions that already exist, or ones that don’t, and present ideas in a second meeting. Together, Bennett and the groups agree on what they should pursue as prototypes.
“I want them to go through the client-based interaction,” Bennett said. “And so while they’re not at a level where they could work for a prosthetic company and make something that would be production-level for amputees around the world, they can at least think through the problem and start learning how to solve these types of problems so that whatever engineering they end up going into in the future, they’ll have that in their tool belt.”
Bennett hopes that the project also helps students incorporate accessibility and inclusivity into their future engineering designs. They go over the Americans with Disabilities Act, which provides protections for people with disabilities, and he shows them the different prosthetics and designs that have worked for him in the past.
“They know that I’ve competed at the highest levels and that I do put in a lot of time and effort outside of the classroom to be the best archer that I can be,” Bennett said. “And so they know that my expectations for them in the classroom are just as high.”
