Ultrasound Imaging System for Dental Student Research and Education

School of Dentistry

Requested:

$102,533

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$102,533

Abstract

This proposal is to request STF funds to acquire an Ultrasound Imaging System for the UW School of Dentistry to support cutting-edge pre-doctoral and graduate student research and education. Ultrasonography is a non-ionizing, non-invasive, and inexpensive form of imaging. Traditional forms of imaging, which rely on ionizing-radiation have potentially negative biologic effects. In contrast, ultrasound imaging techniques use high-frequency sound waves harmlessly to create an image. Ultrasound imaging is used in a wide variety of medical applications from diagnostics to therapeutics. Ultrasound is not widely used in dentistry, but early studies and clinical potential are promising. This research is an exciting opportunity to explore a non-ionizing imaging modality for use in dental-related diagnostics and procedures in dental clinics.

Go Baby Go: Toolkits for Adapted Ride-on Car Workshops

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Requested:

$4,363

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$4,363

Abstract

Go Baby Go (GBG) is an international, community-based mobility and socialization program founded in 2012 by Dr. Cole Galloway. Over the past decade, GBG has grown to over 200 chapters around the world, focused on providing adaptive mobility solutions for young children with disabilities who have not previously had access to high- and low-tech mobility opportunities to support development, movement, and social interaction with peers and family. GBG has been a presence in Seattle since 2016, first with the development of the community organization GBG Seattle, which was subsequently integrated as a UW program in 2020. This integration has been an exciting opportunity to increase our translational impact and enable greater collaboration with our vibrant UW community of students, researchers, and clinicians. GBG at the University of Washington is an outreach program through the UW Department of Rehabilitation Science that works with families, clinicians and industry partners to provide adapted pediatric mobility equipment to children with disabilities. The primary mission of GBG is to provide modified ride-on cars (ROCs) to these children to use as a powered mobility device for fun, function, and exploration. Ride-on-car are commercially available, off-the-shelf toys that are customized to the specific needs of each child, making them a convenient and affordable mobility solution. Typical ride-on-car modifications include the addition of seating supports (higher back, arm rests, harness) and rewiring the car for motion to be activated using an easy-to-press switch (typically placed on the steering wheel), rather than a traditional foot pedal. Our efforts are aimed at fostering an inclusive, sustainable, and multidisciplinary community that supports the fundamental human right to mobility for all children through: 1) understanding how early mobility and play can contribute to healthy development and learning, 2) teaching students, engineers, clinicians, and community members about ride-on-car modification, and 3) providing innovative, accessible, and cost effective technology options for children with mobility barriers at no cost to the families. One major mechanism by which GBG achieves this mission is hosting quarterly adapted ride-on car workshops, where attendees are trained to make off-the-shelf ride-on cars more accessible to children with disabilities. This involves assessing the ride-on-car's circuitry, implementing a toggle switch for instant on-off control and safety, installation of a potentiometer for speed control, and wiring in a headphone jack into the toy. This headphone jack allows for a variety of alternative activation switches to be plugged into the toy car so that the car can be activated by actions that work with the user’s abilities (such as tilting one’s head, moving one finger, blinking, etc.). Adaptive ride-on car workshops are a unique opportunity to: 1) teach students technical skills, such as soldering and tool usage, 2) explain complex concepts, such as circuits in a tangible way, 3) create a platform for students from diverse educational backgrounds to interact and discuss social justice and access issues affecting our community, and 4) impact our Seattle community by increasing access to early powered mobility for children with disabilities. This project seeks to create 10 toolkits that can be used by our network of UW student volunteers to participate in our workshops. Over the last five years, GBG Seattle has given out 100 ride-on-car to families in Western Washington. However, because our recent integration into the UW community occurred during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, only 13 cars have recently been constructed and given to local families. It is our hope to ramp up the program post-pandemic to increase access to early powered mobility for local children. We currently have the tool capacity to build 5 ride-on-cars with 2-5 people per station. However, there is a high demand for volunteer participation for our workshops, resulting in a volunteer waitlist for participation. As such, we are applying for the UW Student Technology Fund to acquire enough tools to have 10 independent toolkits. This will allow us to double our capacity to 10 car builds in one workshop. Additionally, this would allow up to 50 UW students at a time to participate in ride-on-car modification workshops to develop both their technical skills and understanding of inclusive design as well as expand the reach of our program to disability communities across the region. As pandemic restrictions are gradually lifted, there is an increasing demand for participation and need for: 1) teaching students technical skills and academic concepts related to technology and disability inclusion, 2) creating a platform for students from diverse educational backgrounds to interact and problem solve together, and 3) providing accessible, developmentally important pediatric mobility experiences to children with disabilities in our community.

Washington Superbike Safety, Electrical, and Manufacturing Equipment

College of Engineering

Requested:

$9,208

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$9,208

Abstract

Founded in 2018, Washington Superbike is dedicated to developing engineering knowledge at the University of Washington through real-world problem-solving applications. Our multidisciplinary registered student organization is divided into business, mechanical, and electrical teams that work together to create an electric motorcycle for motorsport competition. With races like the AHRMA Formula Lightning Varsity Challenge taking place in 2023 and the MotoStudent Electric International Competition in 2025, we are doubling down on our development to ensure excellence in performance and safety in these upcoming competitions. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after our club’s founding set us back several months, but we are finally approaching completion of research and development for our first fully built prototype motorcycle. With a rolling model of the bike ready, our next steps are focused on dedicating more resources to testing the safety and efficiency of our current battery-based electrical system along with assembling other systems to complete functionality. Since we are so new, we lack some of the established connections for funds that many other RSO’s already have access to. While we currently receive both item and monetary sponsorships from corporations and individuals, we rely on the STF to consistently provide us with the important and costly items we need for continued research and development. Our now extremely tangible goal of participating in upcoming competitions requires that we ensure final functionality of just a few more systems on the bike. The items that we are requesting in this STF will allow our club to continue progressing, taking us to the finish line for our goals and competitions alike.

CART Captioning for Graduate and Professional Student Senate

Graduate and Professional Student Senate

Requested:

$7,000

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$7,000

Abstract

GPSS needs to hire a CART captioner to provide live captioning for our meetings. This will allow greater accessibility to our Zoom meetings.

Compass & Chart Society Marksmanship Simulator

Naval Science

Requested:

$8,457

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$8,457

Abstract

Provide a marksmanship simulator for Compass & Chart Society Marksmanship Team in order to train for local, state and national competition.

Student Seaglider Center

School of Oceanography

Requested:

$25,424

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$25,424

Abstract

The Student Seaglider Center is a nascent student-run program within the University of Washington’s School of Oceanography. With STF funding, the team can begin the transformation of the remnants of UW’s Seaglider Fabrication Lab into the Student Seaglider Center. Seagliders were developed at UW in the early 2000s and have contributed significantly to both scientific research and students’ education. Seagliders are autonomous underwater vehicles that are deployed from ships and used to collect data such as the temperature, oxygen level, salinity level, chlorophyll level, and density of seawater. Seagliders are unique in comparison to other equipment used to collect oceanographic data because they can be preprogrammed to go from one location to another without intervention from people or the need to spend thousands of dollars collecting these measurements from ships. Seagliders can go up and down the water column up to 1000 meters in depth and stay at sea for months, traveling thousands of miles and automatically reporting data back to scientists every time they surface. The Seaglider Fabrication Center ran from 2005-2018 and produced over one hundred seagliders. The center has become somewhat obsolete since the inventor has licensed the gliders to be sold from his company. The School of Oceanography and the Applied Physics Lab has several seagliders that were returned to UW from scientists who completed their research and no longer needed them. We are using the resources available to us to reinvent the Seaglider Fabrication Center into the Student Seaglider Center and are seeking funding for repairs and for the creation of the student center

Adjustable Height Tables for a More Accessible Dawg Prints Program in the UW Libraries

UW Finance and Administration

Requested:

$42,710

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$42,710

Abstract

The Dawg Prints program currently has 56 printers and release stations across the UW Libraries, currently they are on an random assortment of tables/desks/platforms. Partnering with Libraries we form the Dawg Prints Steering Committee. On the Steering Committee, Accessibility for students with disabilities is always an important consideration. Our past successful STF proposals ensured that all of our technology was Accessible but our current hurdle for true Accessibility is with our tables. These tables are currently random heights and do no offer people with Accessibility needs the opportunity to use our equipment.

STF SORC Proposal

The HUB

Requested:

$20,108

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$20,108

Abstract

The Resource Center (RC) in the HUB exclusively serves the 900+ Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) throughout the school year. The RC provides student groups with a creative space where RSOs produce materials that enhance their groups. The RC provides RSOs with printers as well as a computer lab used to print flyers, banners, and materials used for outreach about RSO events. Each RSO is alloted free printing up to a yearly quota of 50.00 printing dollars. The RC also lends out tents, tables and chairs for RSO tabling. There are small lockers for RSO storage, an arts and crafts area, and even a button making station in our center.

UW Formula Motorsports CAD Lab Upgrades

Formula Motorsports

Requested:

$75,935

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$75,935

Abstract

For 33 years, UWashington Formula Motorsports has grown and developed into one of the most successful FSAE teams in the world. Our team of multidisciplinary students take learning far beyond textbook theory by designing, building, and competing with a fully electric formula-style race car made from the ground up each year. This is an immensely challenging, yet exciting engineering project that constantly requires all-hands on deck from our team of 71 students. Since making the transition from a combustion vehicle to an electric one, we’re proud to have drawn in talented students with diverse majors spanning across ten different departments. From generating computer vision models on our driverless team to running complex simulations on our full car models and aerodynamic packages, our team’s intense need for efficient and reliable computer hardware needs grows more and more apparent everyday. When operating on such a fast-paced, rigorous design and competition cycle, every increase in efficiency helps our team produce the fastest, safest, and most technically advanced car we possibly can.

3 Axis High Performance CNC Mill for the Student Innovation Center

Department of Chemistry

Requested:

$95,499

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$95,499

Abstract

We are requesting funding to purchase a modern 3 axis CNC mill for use by students and researchers across the University of Washington. The mill will help to expand the capabilities of the Student Innovation Center (SIC, https://sites.uw.edu/innovation/), a machine shop in the Department of Chemistry that is open to all UW students. While the SIC already has a large 3+2 CNC mill, this machine is often in use and an additional, smaller 3 axis mill will help to provide students with greater access to high precision machining. This access would come in the form of a machine more available for student use, and training for use of the larger 3+2 mill. Additionally, the SIC has four manual mills, two of which can do 2 axis CNC and one that can do 3 axis CNC. However, these machines lack the precision that many projects require and as such are not capable of taking the load off of the 3+2 axis mill. Modern milling is a subtractive cutting process used to machine parts from various stock materials with high accuracy. Milling has widespread utility in engineering, electronics, instrument design, and physical sciences that require specialized or customized equipment. Having access to a CNC mill is critical for students interested in manufacturing and engineering to prepare themselves for their future careers. The proposed machine utilizes Haas Next Generation Control (NGC) like the 3+2 mill at the SIC and machines used in industry.

Funding Status: Funded