UTC Student 3D-Prints a Mobility Chair for Toddler With Cerebral Palsy

A Summer Project With Real Impact

Austin McDade did not spend his summer break at the beach or playing video games. The rising junior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga spent it in the Biomechatronic and Assistive Technology Lab, turning spools of filament into a mobility chair for a 2-year-old girl he had never met.

The girl, Amelia Aiken, has cerebral palsy. She needed a device that would let her move around independently before starting preschool in November. Her mother, Kyndal Aiken, had applied through a national maker network but waited months without a match. So she emailed the UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science directly.

Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu, head of the Engineering Management and Technology Department, passed the project to McDade. He is president of UTC's Mechatronics Club and lab manager for the Biomechatronic and Assistive Technology Lab, so he had both the skills and the printer access to make it happen.

From Digital Files to a Working Chair

The design came from MakerWorld, part of an open-source Toddler Mobility Trainer project run by the nonprofit 3D-Mobility. McDade downloaded the STL files, sliced them in software, and set parameters like wall thickness and infill density for each part. Larger structural pieces took up to 18 hours to print. Smaller parts could be grouped onto one build plate.

He used ABS plastic, the same material used in Lego bricks, because it is stronger and more heat-resistant than PLA. The wheels got pink thermoplastic polyurethane for grip. The final chair came together in shades of pink with white wheels, plus adjustable footrests and a headrest that will grow with Amelia.

When Amelia first sat in the chair in a UTC hallway on July 30, she grabbed the pink wheels and pushed herself forward. She took to it immediately.

More Than a Printer Project

The Aikens are now looking into getting their own 3D printer so they can help print similar chairs for other families in the Chattanooga area. McDade hopes his work shows that engineering skills can serve a community directly, not just in a lab or a factory.

Amelia turns 3 in November. Her family plans to use the chair at home, at the store, and eventually at school, where she will be on the same level as her classmates instead of watching from a stroller.