Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE- During the fall 2006 semester, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science announced the second annual General Electric (GE) Health Care Design Contest. This collaborative design contest is designed to challenge the innovation and originality of UWP engineering students with prizes awarded to the top three entries. On Dec. 8, six proposals from six UWP student groups were evaluated for entry into the final round, to take place in May. GE will announce the student groups that are advancing on April 24.

The six student groups submitted a variety of product designs which include: an electrode vest, a redesigned television remote and an electric wheelchair, all hoping to benefit healthcare and proceed to the final round.

Teresa Brunner, a student group member, states, "This project has been a great learning experience in that I must be conscientious of the constructability and ease of product use. I have also learned a great deal about communication, especially because the team is from a group of varied fields of study. We each bring strengths to the group and I have thoroughly enjoyed learning from each group member."

Dave Hoffman, principle engineer with GE Medical Systems, proposed the idea of building a competition in the fall of 2005 to Abulkhair Masoom, professor and chair of the UWP General Engineering Department. Hoffman is a 1979 physics alumnus of UWP.

Masoom states, "The projects provided an excellent platform for our students to apply skills taught during lectures. It certainly helped improve their problem-solving ability, people skills, as well as hands-on skills with engineering components."

The proposals of the six UWP student groups are judged by a panel of GE managers and engineers, most of them UWP alumni, in accordance to the degrees of innovation, originality, relation to health care engineering, quality of proposal and clarity of the plan to implement proposed designs. Teams advancing to the second round will be required to give a 20-25 minute long oral presentation to the GE health care headquarters in Milwaukee before the judging panel.

Hisham Abdel-Aal, UWP Department of General Engineering, states, "I am hoping the students learn that Engineering Design is an art of implementing what is possible while dreaming of the impossible; constantly finding ways to improve upon what has been conceived and always recognizing what is not implemented yet then ask: Why not?"

Questions may be directed to Abdel-Aal, at (608) 342-1515 or abdelaah@uwplatt.edu. Questions may also be directed to Masoom, at (608) 342-1732 or masoom@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Abulkhair Masoom, chair, UWP Department of General Engineering, (608) 342- 1732,masoom@uwplatt.edu Hisham A. Abdel-Aal, UWP Department of General Engineering, (608) 342-1515,abdelaah@uwplatt.edu Prepared by: Anne E. Killian, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194,killiana@uwplatt.edu