Meet the 2019 Kickboxers

This Winter and Spring, Elon students are researching, prototyping, building, and revising their Elon Kickbox project. Below is a short summary of each idea.

The Rigid Vacuum

Primary Investigator: Bryan Council
Major: Business Administration Management
Sponsor: Sean McMahon, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship

Bryan is exploring alternative designs for the attachments on the end of a vacuum hose. He is taking his experiences working in a car detailing shop and applying it to creating an attachment that will lift more dirt with less effort.

Counseling Simulation

Primary Investigator: Alexandra Grillo
Major: Psychology
Sponsor: Sean McMahon, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship

Alexandra is exploring ways to give future clinical psychologist experience with clients in a simulated environment.

Ultrasound Models for Ultra Cheap

Primary Investigators: Melissa Haug and Jo-Ku Teng
Major: Physician Assistant Studies
Sponsor: Cynthia Bennett, Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies

Melissa and Jo-Ku are exploring low cost, reusable models to train physician assistant students. These models will focus on practicing invasive procedures that are guided by an ultrasound.

The G-Box

Primary Investigator: Devin Hick
Major: Entrepreneurship
Sponsor: Sean McMahon, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship

Devin is exploring ways to protect and carry a smartphone, wallet, and other personal items while active. The “fanny pack” like device will be rugged and could be worn around the waist, chest, arm, or elsewhere.

Dorm Hydroponics System

Lead Investigators: Dylan Fergurson and Andrew Jackson (not pictured)
Majors: Finance and Business Management
Sponsor: Robert Charest, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies

Andrew and Dylan are exploring ways for students to grow herbs for cooking in a small living space. They are looking at vertical farming, requirements of a hydroponic system, and campus regulations while they develop a prototype.

DIY RC Drone

Lead Investigator: Sam Jimenez
Major: Computer Science and Finance
Sponsor: Joel Hollingsworth, Senior Lecturer in Computing Sciences

Sam is exploring the viability of laser-cut racing drones as an alternative to expensive off-the-shelve kits. He’ll also document the process of building his drone so others can create their own.

Biofeedback Device for Physical Therapy

Lead Investigator: Jon Little
Major: Doctor of Physical Therapy
Sponsor: Bill Andrews, Professor of Physical Therapy

Jon is working on a wearable device that will provide feedback to a physical therapy patient when they walk in a way that could further damage their knee.

Cozy Snug

Primary Investigator: Unique Moore
Major: Music Performance

Sponsor: Jerry Waller, Systems Librarian and Assistant Librarian
Unique will be exploring ways to help people stay warm with heated clothing.

Wireless Charging Desk

Lead Investigator: Josh Robbins
Major: Doctor Physical Therapy
Sponsor: Bill Andrews, Professor of Physical Therapy

Josh is building a desk that has a wireless charging pad integrated into the wood top of the desk. This charger allow a phone to charge without needing cables.

Hologram Music Visualizer

Primary Investigator: Jared Rosbrugh
Major: Biochemistry
Sponsor: Benjamin Evans, Associate Professor of Physics

Jared is exploring holograms and using plastics and other materials to create a hologram-like effect to visualize beats in music.

Prosthetic Hand

Primary Investigator: Raina Stevens (photo from video conference)
Major: Doctor of Physical Therapy
Sponsor: Lindsay Collings, Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies and Assistant Director of Clinical Education

Raina is exploring prosthetic hands and the process of making them using 3D printing. While 3D printing prosthetics is well documented, Raina exploration of this topic will inform her studies in the Physical Therapy program.

Plastic Hanging Gardens

Primary Investigator: Clay Thompson
Major: Strategic Communication
Sponsor: Amanda Chunco, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies

Clay is exploring how to repurpose the plastic spools that ship with 3D printer plastic filament into hanging pots for plants. These spools are generally not recyclable and the Maker Hub has a lot of them.

Winter 2019

Organic Chemistry Lab 2.0

Lead Investigator: Margo Greenawald
Major: Biochemistry
Sponsor: Paul Weller, Senior Science Laboratory Manager

Margo is working on creating a new organic chemistry lab where students make fragrant candles. The goal is to remind students how cool and fun chemistry can be by giving them a chance to put knowledge about chemical synthesis into practice while gaining new lab skills as they synthesize scents to be used in the creation of their own candles.

Home Automation using a Raspberry Pi

Lead Investigator: Daniel Yameen
Major: Physics and Mechanical Engineering
Sponsor: Kyle Altmann, Associate Professor of Physics

Daniel is exploring a way to control appliances and lights around his home using a Raspberry Pi microcomputer and a mobile phone app.

Frankenstein Camera

Lead Investigator: Kerry Sheenhan-Delany
Major: Strategic Communications and Communication Design
Sponsor: Ben Hannam, Associate Professor of Communications

Kerry is building and deconstructing a variety of cameras to see how different elements of each camera affect each photograph.

Robotic Hand

Lead Investigator: Kathryn Ellington
Major: Biomedical Engineering and Mathematical Engineering
Sponsor: Sirena Hargrove-Leak, Associate Professor of Engineering

Kathryn is 3D printing and assembling a hand with motors and a microcontroller to be worn over a human hand. Instead of a prosthetic, this hand is meant to be an extension of a human hand.

Football Helmet for the Modern Age

Lead Investigator: Matthew Foster
Major: Engineering
Sponsor: Scott Wolter, Associate Professor of Engineering

Matt is building a prototype of a football helmet that includes a wide-angle camera so that fans can see the action exactly how it happens when it happens.