Torch, Summer 2003

Professor Named Fulbright Scholar D r. Andrew Wiseman, assistant professor of Spanish at Cedarville University, has been named a Fulbright Scholar. The Fulbright Scholar program is the U.S. government’s flagship academic exchange effort. Its purpose is to recruit and send nearly 800 U.S.-based academicians to 140 countries. It also brings 800 foreign faculty and professionals to the United States. Grantees lecture and conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields. Wiseman will travel to Uzbekistan during Spring Semester 2004. Wiseman earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts. He holds an M.A. from Florida State University and a doctorate in education from La Universidad de San José, San José, Costa Rica. He joined the Cedarville University faculty in 2000 and is the first faculty member from the institution to be selected for the Fulbright program. Uzbekistan, a part of the former Soviet Union, is located in central Asia, north of Afghanistan. Its population is roughly 25 million. “My wife, Jessica, and I love to experience different cultures,” Wiseman explained when asked about his selection. “We’ve lived, worked, and studied in Europe, Asia, and Latin America and have many close friends from those areas. My experiences last year as a visiting lecturer for Gyeongang National University in South Korea whetted my appetite for finding more opportunities to work at foreign universities. “The Fulbright application process offers you three choices of location. I chose Uzbekistan primarily because I have never been there and I wanted to experience living and working in Eurasia, as well as have the opportunity to study the Russian and Uzbek languages. In addition, I hope to build personal and professional relationships with my Uzbek colleagues and students,” he concluded. Summer 2003 / TORCH 17 Engineering Students Design Prosthetic Arm for 10-Year-Old E ight Cedarville mechanical engineering students have designed two prosthetic arms for a local girl so that she can advance in her violin playing. Ten-year-old Jaclyn Barker of Beavercreek, Ohio, was born missing her right forearm. She began playing the violin about two and a half years ago using a prosthesis. However, as her playing advanced, she needed to have better control over moving the bow and keeping it correctly positioned on the strings. The problem “needed an engineering solution,” said her father, Ken. The Barkers attend church with Tom Wailes, a former Cedarville University engineering professor. Wailes suggested the project to Cedarville’s Elmer W. Engstrom Department of Engineering. Eventually two teams of four mechanical engineering students began designing two different models of prosthetic arms. Each student logged about 15 hours a week on the project. They also enlisted the help of Katie Roy, a violin performance major from Ottawa, Ill., and concertmaster of the Cedarville University Orchestra. Over the past year, the teams watched Roy play, studying her arm and wrist movement. She practiced with a prosthetic arm they designed for her and gave them feedback about the device. Roy also worked with Barker, helping her to get used to playing with her new arms. The teams also worked with John Brandt, a certified prosthetist who has worked in the field for 14 years. “I found it fascinating how they came up with the ingenuity of the bow design,” he said. “There is not much available for upper extremities. We need more engineers to come up with ideas like this.” The students found the process to be both challenging and rewarding. “This project had an actual person involved. It was neat to help her, yet there were many variables that we had to deal with,” said Aaron Roth, a mechanical engineering major from Cape Girardeau, Mo. “It was very rewarding to have a face to go with an engineering project. Interfacing with a human body is much more difficult than other projects,” said Matthew Bozzuto, a mechanical engineering major from Pen Argyl, Pa. Jay Kinsinger, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Cedarville, said, “The human element made this project unique. They were directly impacting the quality of someone’s life with this project.” The two teams presented Barker with the two prosthetic arms on May 8 at Cedarville University. Family and friends gathered to watch Barker play the violin with each of the new arms. Barker will eventually decide which one to use once she has had time to practice with them. “This is a unique thing, not many people are doing this,” said Barker’s father. “These guys are my heroes.” (Left to Right ) Top Row: David Rench, Jay Kinsinger, Katie Roy, Aaron Roth; Bottom Row: Jonathan Mattson, Jaclyn Barker, and Jesse Magnuson (Left to Right) Top Row: Kyle Gerber, Jay Kinsinger, Matt Bozzuto; Bottom Row: Dan Plaatje, Jaclyn Barker, Katie Roy, and Ben Vroman