Biomedical Engineering Students Connect STEP Program with Canine Companions
This is the second summer that Professor Mei Lin (Ete) Chan from the Department of Biomedical Engineering and her group have participated in the STEP program, a New York State Education Department effort that encourages and prepares more underrepresented minority and low-income secondary school students for entry into scientific, technical, health and health-related professions, including many areas where licensure is required.
Chan is the academic advisor for 3D PATH, a newly formed student club at Stony Brook University. It is a continuation of a student group called Hands in Hands, which focused on 3D printing prosthetics. Under the leadership of club president Ciara Woellhof, 3D PATH has expanded to include all kinds of 3D-printed assistive technology. The group works with community centers, nursing homes and various high school and elementary students to carry out its initiative.
“We aim to teach people how to create, edit, and 3D print assistive tech so that more and more people with a variety of disabilities have access,” said Woellhof, who is also president of Alpha Eta Mu Beta and an instructor in the SBU STEP program.
After a visit to Canine Companions in Medford, NY, in early 2023, the group began a project to create a dog treat dispenser using 3D technology. “We are going through the iterative design process to create a few 3D prototypes so far. It is meaningful and fun to develop this with the input from experienced staff from Canine Companions,” said Chan. The 3D team is currently working with Yi Xiao, Darren Wang and SBU alum Nathaniel Jamison, who designed the three prototypes.
The Introduction to Biomedical Engineering summer workshop takes place over the course of two weeks. Students from Long Island high schools reside in dorms during the week and return home on the weekends. Argiro, founder of the Origami Club at Stony Brook University and a two-year STEP instructor, said, “I hope that my work as a STEP instructor gives the next generation of students the confidence to pursue impactful STEM careers.”
Woellhof, along with instructors Elizabeth Argiro, Chunbin Lin and M. Aayan Rahman, accompanied 13 high school students to Canine Companions the morning of July 26 to tour the facility and to learn more about the program.
“I am involved in the program because it brings me joy to give back to my community through teaching the younger generation about STEM,” Woellhof said. “Raising awareness and teaching our students about service dogs, in particular, is helpful to our students and those who currently benefit from service dogs.”
Canine Companions, founded in 1975, provides service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities and facility dogs to professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice and educational settings. The dogs and all follow-up services are provided at no cost to clients.
Sue Parrinello, volunteer coordinator at Canine Companions, toured the group. There are approximately 30 dogs on the premises. “Only 55% make it through the program to become a service dog,” said Parrinello.
The dogs are Labrador Retrievers or Golden Retrievers, almost 70 pounds, and all are bred in California, raised as puppies, and then shipped to the facility for training. There are six training centers throughout the United States, and the Northeast Training Center is based in Medford, Long Island, which services Maine to Virginia. People who are 18 years and older and meet the requirements can volunteer to become a puppy raiser. After the 18-month period, the dogs are shipped to one of the service facilities to be trained to learn how to work to make a difference in someone’s life. When they are not working, the dogs are taught to rest.
Senior Trainer Marissa Guidoboni demonstrated a training session. The group watched a service dog pick up items including a remote control, a baby sneaker and eyeglasses. The dogs can open drawers with a drawer pull and close them, and open doors by pushing a button. “They can help children with disabilities, veterans and can also be trained as hearing dogs,” said Guidoboni.
Emely Rosario, a tenth grader from Brentwood High School, said, “I didn’t realize how useful dogs could be to humans. It was interesting to learn about how they trained the dogs during the tour. I wanted to pet more dogs!”
The group toured the dorms where the people stay for two weeks for training with their service dog companion. The students also saw where the dogs are groomed and where all of their food is stored.
Benjamin Portillo, an eleventh grader from Brentwood High School, said, “I really enjoyed it. I think it’s very nice that they are learning to serve our community, like the elderly. Biomedical engineering is all about helping people and creating stuff that serves a purpose for our community.”
“According to our contacts at Canine Companions, an accessible dog treat dispenser could be life changing for wheelchair users who experience difficulty giving treats to their service dogs,” Woellhof said. “We hope to continue developing our design to eventually produce a low cost, easy-to-use dog treat dispenser.”
About the dog treat dispenser, Guidoboni said, “Engineering can make a big difference in someone’s life, and we are hoping you can make a difference.”
To learn more about Canine Companions, visit: canine.org.
To learn more about the STEP program at Stony Brook University, visit: stonybrook.edu/commcms/stem-smart/step/index.php.