Miranda Veeser
BS ’16, International Studies
ADAPT is a team of four students from LS&A, Engineering, Business, and Art & Design. We design functional, durable, and beautiful products for people using assistive devices. In order to create the best quality product, we continually work with our clients, ensuring our end users are kept in mind and involved throughout the design process. Our first project, the RainGuard, is a small clip that attaches to the side of the wheelchair in order to hold up an umbrella. This product was designed because of a conversation with an end user from the Paralyzed Veterans of America. He explained to us how difficult it could be if the weather was bad: by the time he would have pulled out an umbrella, he would have been soaked, with no free hands to wheel himself to his destination. After hearing about this, we realized most spaces and products are not designed with differently-abled people in mind. ADAPT has collaborated with multiple professors at U of M and other universities, the University of Michigan Health System, and ThingSmiths for this project. In designing these products, one of our primary aims is to help alleviate the negative stigma placed on those using assistive devices.
Library Mentor: Paul Grochowski