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By: Kathryn McNutt The Journal Record July 1, 2022 0

Gavin Cox, Sam Doerflinger and Jared DiBarra, from left, talk about the ChinUp device they developed as the capstone project for their Engineering, Design and Development class at Francis Tuttle Technology Center. The project took a gold medal in the national Skills USA competition in June. Not pictured is team member Christian Limas. (Photo by Kathryn McNutt)

The ChinUp – designed to improve comfort and mobility for patients with drooping head syndrome – was awarded the gold medal in Career Pathways Industrial and Engineering Technology at the SkillsUSA national conference held June 20-24 in Atlanta.

The students produced the device as their capstone project for the Engineering, Design and Development class at Francis Tuttle Technology Center.

“We put a lot on these kids,” said Bradley Chisolm, physics instructor at the Portland Campus, 3500 NW 150th St. “I’m proud that we have a group that did this.”

Students in the school’s Engineering Academy take AP and honors courses that allow them to earn college credit while still in high school. They explore different fields of engineering and collaborate with other Francis Tuttle departments like 3D printing and advanced manufacturing, Chisolm said.

The idea to build a better neck brace started with Sam Doerflinger, who watched his grandfather struggle to keep his head up after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Gavin Cox, Jared DiBarra and Christian Limas helped him developed the ChinUp through a series of iterations. The latest version contains shock-absorbing springs that can be adjusted to allow degrees of head movement. And it can be customizable for the best fit.

“This class is done but we’re going to continue,” Doerflinger said. The team will continue to make improvements and may seek a patent for the new device. It would add to the list of 16 patents earned by teams of Engineering Academy students at Francis Tuttle since 2015.

The ChinUp could assist patients with ALS, Parkinson’s disease and other conditions that weaken muscles and impact physical function, he said.

The first prototype was the most expensive and was problematic, Cox said. It was inflexible and snapped around the neck, which ran the risk of pinching the skin, he said.

DiBarra said the team talked with the designer of a neck brace currently on the market who said customers would benefit from a style that allowed more movement and would work well in water because many patients are prescribed water therapy.

Designs and materials were switched out throughout the process and an optional back-of-the-head attached was developed.

Doerflinger said his grandfather, Tom Watt, lived with ALS for about two years following an active life as a farmhand, aircraft mechanic and postal service maintenance worker. The disease takes away the ability to move but not pain and discomfort, he said.

The ChinUp was developed to ease that discomfort.

The students who designed it, now all 18 years old, said the Engineering Academy at Francis Tuttle allowed them to find out if engineering was the right career path and helped them explore their options.

“This is about as close to college as you can get and doesn’t cost anything,” Cox said.

“The hardest thing was to narrow down what to study in college,” Doerflinger said.

He and Limas have chosen aerospace/mechanical engineering, while DiBarra wants a career in biomedical engineering. All three are enrolled at Oklahoma State University. Cox will attend the University of Central Oklahoma to study electrical or software engineering.

Doerflinger will begin at OSU as a sophomore because of the college credits he already earned through AP courses.

In addition to the ChinUp, he has another design idea born of life experience: a waterproof phone case that floats. An avid fisherman, Doerflinger admits he has dropped his phone three times and watched it sink to the bottom of a lake.

Tagged with: ALS ChinUp Francis Tuttle Technology Center

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