Honors Engineering Banquet Featuring Reach Unlimited

The Honors Engineering class of 2021-2022 presented the projects they built to enhance the lives of their clients from Reach Unlimited at a banquet on Monday, April 11.

The semester began with the students visiting Reach Unlimited to meet their clients and understand a need they have in their community. The students worked through the design process and project management skills to present a product that would fulfill three needs.

Group one (Isabella Henslee, Drew Smith, Jacob Swan, Andrew Williams) was tasked to create a fully-automated stamp machine. Reach Unlimited has a gift shop that uses gift bags with stickers of their logo on them when customers buy items. The stamp of the logo would be used on the bags in place of the sticker and allow their client to help with the process, even with her limited mobility. The students decided to use programming and an actuator inside of a metal-plated wood frame. The client is able to simply hit a button and the machine will vertically stamp one gift bag at a time.

Group two (Colin Burns, Tatum Moore, Pearson Pollard, Cole Wisenbaker) was tasked to create a headpiece for a client to be able to participate in art activities at Reach Unlimited. The headpiece incorporated a 3D-printed piece that connected the inside of a hard hat safety helmet with an art utensil such as a marker or paint brush. The group also created a mobile stand specifically designed for their client’s wheelchair. The stand rolls up to the client and can adjust in height as well as hold different types of art paper or canvas on a white board.

Group three (Jackson Owen, Landri Robinson, Anthony Shatby, Makaylah Williams) was tasked to create a soil sifter machine for a client who otherwise would not be able to help in the greenhouse. Currently, large shovels are used to mix soil with perlite. The new product will allow the client with limitations in his hands to pour smaller amounts of soil while the machine vibrates from an electric sander. The machine then has a motor that rotates PVC pipe to mix the soil and perlite before being used in the greenhouse.

“Last semester, we had so much exposure to engineering and what a first-year engineering class in college might look like. This semester, the students have used that knowledge combined with skills, desires and determination to be the hands and feet of Jesus.” ~ Mrs. Yaw