It\u2019s a technological approach that Karen Jacobs<\/a>, a clinical professor of occupational therapy, is embracing. Jacobs\u2019 office on the fifth floor of Sargent College is filled with vibrant mementos collected over a 40-year career in occupational therapy. Books on musculoskeletal disorders and ergonomics (including those she wrote) and myriad awards and commendations\u2014many from the American Occupational Therapy Association where she served as president from 1998 to 2001\u2014line her crowded bookshelves. Colorful snow globes, stuffed animals, and student artwork fill in the gaps. Among the many artifacts is a slightly newer mark of Jacobs\u2019 innovative spirit: a sleek silver and blue 3-D printer. Given her focus on ergonomics, Jacobs has become a fan of the technology\u2019s ability to have a positive impact on those who need help with activities of daily living.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are always looking for assistive technology, or adaptations,\u201d says Jacobs. \u201cThe introduction of the 3-D printer allows us to better match what a person needs through the design of an individualized item.\u201d<\/p>\n To connect her students\u2019 therapeutic training with 3-D technology expertise, Jacobs had only to look across the street. She partnered with Rebecca Khurshid, an assistant professor of mechanical and systems engineering, to recruit engineering students for a four-week project. In fall 2018, Jacobs took the first-year doctor of occupational therapy students from her Analysis and Adaptation of Occupation course over to the College of Engineering, where the students from the two schools tackled a challenge: design an assistive device for a hypothetical client with a fine motor limitation like arthritis\u2014and print it.<\/p>\n The occupational therapy students developed case studies and proposals. They then worked with the engineering students at two of BU\u2019s maker spaces: the Engineering Product Innovation Center<\/a>, which has twelve 3-D printers, and the Binoy K. Singh Imagineering Laboratory<\/a>, which has two. At first, they experimented with drawings and Play-Doh models, before creating digital designs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are always looking for assistive technology, or adaptations. The introduction of the 3-D printer allows us to better match what a person needs through the design of an individualized item.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014Karen Jacobs<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cA lot of the engineering students are looking to apply what they\u2019ve learned in the classroom in a way that helps people,\u201d says Khurshid, director of the Collaborative and Integrative Robotics Laboratory at BU\u2019s Center for Autonomous and Robotic Systems. \u201cThis is especially true at BU, where the curriculum is designed to train societal engineers,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The printed devices created by the joint teams included a soda holder, mascara applicator, and PlayStation joystick extender. Sargent\u2019s Laura Stursberg (\u201921) and her team designed an adaptation with a real client in mind\u2014her 82-year-old grandmother Charlotte, whose arthritis made it hard for her to crochet, a longtime hobby that requires fine motor skills. An ergonomic crochet hook Stursberg ordered online made grasping the yarn easier, but the fit wasn\u2019t quite right. With the help of Katherine Shannahan (ENG\u201920), the team printed a customized version. The one-inch-long adaptive device has two connected circular openings, one for Charlotte\u2019s index finger and the other to guide the yarn.<\/p>\n \u201cThe device took care of the yarn so it took a bit of the bending of her hand out of the equation,\u201d says Stursberg. While the prototype wasn\u2019t perfect\u2014the team realized they needed a way to control the tension of the yarn\u2014the process is meant to be iterative. \u201cThe assistive technology process is basically \u2018design\u2014fabricate\u2014test,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"\/sargent\/files\/2019\/08\/re-Final-Render-4.png\")