Rupy Sawhney, Weston Fulton Professor and head of the Department of Industrial Engineering, and a team of graduate students led by Lavanya Marella were interviewed by the Knoxville News Sentinel about their project that is helping Edi Deaver become more mobile. Deaver has cerebral palsy and had to sleep with his shoes on for fifteen years because he was unable to take them off. Through research funds, the engineers were able to buy him a chair lift system and are designing it to fit his specific body movements. “We have helped (Deaver) out, but he has helped us out, too,” said Sawhney. “Out of this has come a (new) research area for us. We not only want to be able to do cutting-edge things and research, we want to be good neighbors in the community.”
