Student Jodi Lonneman and others in the UofL Society of Women Engineers chapter talked to the girls on a recent Saturday morning about engineering as a profession then let them get hands-on experience in a real engineering project.
UofL bioengineer Gina Bertocci and a graduate student developed the wheelchair design a few years ago. Her goal was to keep it inexpensive, use common parts and make it easy to put together so that it would be readily available for families with paraplegic pets. She and mechanical engineering assistant professor Karen Frost attended the event at the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana office to advise the girls and show them how the adjustable wheelchairs work.