In 2010, Awards went to Juan Fang, a Mechanical Engineering PhD student, and a secondary award was made to Gavin Brown, a Final Year Product Design Engineering undergraduate.
The 2010 winner, Juan Fang
The main Award was made to Juan Fang to assist her research into the development of methods and equipment to aid the recovery of Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) victims , and was of £500 for the purchase of actuators and force sensors required for the development of a Recumbent Gait Robotic Device for early rehabilitation of walking.
Rehabilitation of walking is an integral part of a therapy of such patients. However, patients with ISCI often find it challenging to maintain an upright posture and practice stepping during the early post-injury period. Stepping movement in a reclined position would enable an early rehabilitation after a spinal cord injury. Such training is essential for promoting early neural recovery much before the effect of function recovery becomes apparent.
Gavin received an award of £300 for the purchase of equipment to enable his Final Year project, developing a modular bioreactor, similar to the one making up the vertical post of the street light in the illustration, in which algae absorb sunlight and carbon dioxide as they grow. The bioreactor is used to produce sustainable biofuel by extracting the natural oils produced.
