From Classroom to Customer
Stephen Sundarrao
Faculty, College of Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Associate Director, USF Center for Rehabilitation Engineering and Technology
Unless you rely on a wheelchair to get around, you don’t think twice about traversing sand or dirt trails at the beach or park, or even about something as simple as where to place your laptop computer so you can work easily.
Not unless you’re Stephen Sundarrao, that is — or one of his engineering students. Born in India to a father who was a doctor and mother a nurse, Sundarrao earned his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. He then spent time conducting prosthetics research at Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore, India. During this time, he learned first-hand from people who were disabled about the challenges they encountered with the tasks of everyday living, and it was at this point that rehabilitation engineering became his life’s vocation.
A graduate of USF’s master’s program in engineering, himself, Sundarrao teaches one of the College of Engineering’s most popular undergraduate courses, “Capstone Design Course” for mechanical engineering. In the class, students learn how to solve rehabilitative engineering problems by creating innovative technology — many using robotics. They then apply the technology to create solutions to real problems faced by people with disabilities.
A crutch that folds up so small it can fit in a purse or a backpack.
A rugged, off-road wheelchair kit that enables users to enjoy beaches and trails.
A kit that adapts a wheelchair for sideway maneuvers in tight spaces.
In recent years, USF students have created early 80 innovative products, a number of them with significant commercial value. With the help of USF’s Office of Patents and Licensing, several have received patents, paving the way for Rehab Ideas, a spin-off company Sundarrao initiated through the university’s business incubator. It wasn’t easy — seeking investors, gaining capital, procuring business space in USF’s Research Park and finding a local manufacturer — but efforts paid off when orders for products started coming in even before prices were set.
Trayaway is one example. It’s a unique foldaway tray that is mounted to a user’s power chair. After installing the Trayaway, customer Jimmy Smith found that in the classroom it gave him a more convenient spot to place his laptop, while at a baseball game, the product gave him a place for his food and drink. “It has made learning and attending school a whole lot easier,” he says, in addition to increasing his independence. “And independence is what it is all about.”
Another Rehab Ideas customer, Michael Foradori, agrees. Foradori was the first purchaser of the Mobili T Rover™, a rugged-construction wheelchair designed to power through beaches, parks and wilderness areas – areas not typically accessible in a standard wheelchair. Travis Watkins, a student in Sundarrao’s class, developed the rover for his father who had been unable to enjoy his favorite walks on the beach due to Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS).
The off-road platform of the Mobili T Rover™ makes that possible again for both Watkins’ father and for Foradori.
“USF student-created projects are being sold worldwide to people who want and need them,” says Sundarrao – want them to make their lives a little bit easier and need them to be more independent.
“I relish the opportunity to tell others about the innovative products being developed in my classroom by USF students.”
-- Mary Beth Erskine, University Communications & Marketing