| | Charlie Mars-Mahlau/The Lantern | | Michael Klimek, a sophomore in engineering, helps to construct a wheelchair ramp Monday as part of an OSU-led community service project. |
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After suffering a stroke that left her wheelchair-bound in July 2007, the only way Louise Thomas could get into her Columbus house was to be lifted up the back steps.
"We were having trouble getting a wheelchair ramp built," said Raymond Thomas, Louise's husband. "We called all the agencies, Senior Options and different places, and it was more difficult than we imagined."
Now Louise Thomas is getting help with her ramp from a group of Ohio State engineering students who have decided to put down their pencils and books and pick up saws and hammers.
"ECOS, or Engineers for Community Service, is basically just engineers looking for service projects in the Columbus area," said Alex Wohlgemuth, a junior in mechanical engineering. "We're looking to apply our engineering skills to help people in need."
According to the ECOS Web site, this is the third ramp the organization has constructed for someone who is wheelchair bound but lacks the means to have one built and cannot get state or federal aid.
The first ramp was built during a period of three weeks in spring quarter 2006. With the experience gained from the first ramp, the second ramp was completed in fall 2006 on schedule and within the project's budget of $1,500. ECOS grants, OSU and Battelle (an international science and technology enterprise) fund the projects.
Social workers and doctors at Ohio State Medical Center connected ECOS with Louise Thomas to build the third ramp. Following the initial contact, student engineers have made steps towards completing the project.
ECOS members began by surveying the site and designing a ramp that would meet Columbus building codes. They then put the design into a computer-aided drafting program and presented the drafts to the City of Columbus to obtain a building permit.
Construction of the ramp is now partially completed. ECOS members dug support-post holes and poured a foundation-layer of concrete in them, and also finished the intermediate platform and platform outside the house's front door.
According to its Web site, ECOS is involved in several other programs throughout the community. They promote science and engineering to local high school students and put volunteers from the technology community in contact with Ohio schools to help those schools make transitions to newer technologies.
ECOS members also make a trip to Montana de Luz, an orphanage in Honduras for children with HIV and AIDS, every year during spring break. As with the wheelchair ramp project, ECOS members use their engineering know-how to help install computers and improve the living conditions at the orphanage.
Eric Reynolds, a senior in mechanical engineering, said he thinks the wheelchair ramp is the best project ECOS undertakes.
"This is the most hands-on we get," Reynolds said. "A lot of engineers got into engineering because they like to build stuff, but you don't get to build stuff in the classroom."
Though ECOS members say they enjoy the opportunity to work on projects in the real world, Raymond Thomas was still surprised by the dedication the students showed in coming out to work on the ramp on Monday, despite frigid temperatures.
"It's so amazing that they're out here in the cold working today," Raymond Thomas said. "There are really no words that can express how much we appreciate the job that they're doing."
Joe Miller can be reached at miller.3862@osu.edu.
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