‘Limbitless’ High-Five Chain Inspires Engineering Creativity, Teamwork to Change the World
Hundreds of UCF students, faculty and staff turned out Friday, Feb. 27 – despite chilly, damp weather – to attempt to break the world record for the longest high-five chain.
The attempt on the UCF Memory Mall fell short of its record-breaking goal of 1,700. But the sponsor, Microsoft OneNote, achieved its bigger goal of bringing attention to Limbitless Solutions, the UCF student team – led by mechanical engineering doctoral student and Fulbright Scholar Albert Manero – that’s producing 3D printed bionic arms for children.
A line of people snaked around Memory Mall for the high-five chain, which worked like the “wave.” It ended with Manero high-fiving Alex Pring, the 7-year-old boy who was the first recipient of Limbitless Solutions’ 3D printed bionic arm made at UCF.
Pring was joined by Wyatt Falardeau, a fifth-grader from Vero Beach who is now being fitted for an arm by the UCF team.
Microsoft came to UCF as part of a campaign called The Collective Project. In addition to the world-record attempt, there were other on-campus events held during Engineers Week to raise awareness of how students can collaborate using technology and creativity to rally around a cause and make a difference in the world.
On Thursday, students from across the university came to the Texas Instruments Innovation Lab in the Engineering II building to help out at a Build-a-Thon.
They met members of the Limbitless team and built mechanical hands. About 50 volunteers constructed 60 hands that will be shipped to Children’s Rehabilitation Institute of Teletón USA, a San Antonio-based pediatric rehabilitation center that serves children with neuromusculoskeletal disabilities.
Also on Friday, Limbitless Solutions invited designers, artists and anyone with a creative flair to a Design-A-Thon as a means to gather design concepts for future 3D printed robotic arms.
– UCF –
(This story was originally published on UCF Today by Mark Schlueb.)
Media stories of the event: