A first-year course requirement has resulted in national recognition for a group of McMaster Engineering students.
Maria Akhtar, Jocelyn Kuntsi, Shayaha Jeyaseelan and Cate Prince were team members for the Integrated Cornerstone Design Projects in Engineering (1P13) who designed WheelBeats, a web app recently named the National Runner Up for the James Dyson Award.
WheelBeats centralizes accessibility information for event venues, increasing access to live events for individuals with mobility requirements and physical disabilities.
“We were so shocked by this recognition, and it is such an honour to be alongside so many incredible submissions,” says Kuntsi, on behalf of the group. “Our project started out as an idea that seemed intangible, especially as first-year students with relatively limited programming experience. Developing this app and seeing its success has really proved to each of us that acting on our own ideas is really the first barrier to overcome.”
The project was informed by the lived experience of an external client who worked with the 2023-24 1P13 cohort, Tiffany Garvey. She lives with spina bifida and experiences challenges in navigating some public spaces.
Putting ourselves in our client’s mindset and making the genuine effort to put her at the forefront of our design has been really formative in our journey in learning how to be effective engineers.
The now second-year Engineering students will be presenting their app at the annual general meeting for Hydrocephalus Canada at the end of the month. They’re also planning for a complete redesign of the platform to make it more scalable and launching it on the App Store and Google Play.
“We’ve already received interest from people eager to know when and where they can download the app, which has motivated us to move forward with this endeavour,” says Kuntsi. “Looking ahead, we see immense value in working closely with both venues and members of the disability community to shape the future of WheelBeats and ensure that accessibility is kept at the centre of our development process.”
Heather Sheardown, Dean of Engineering, shares her pride in McMaster’s repeat success with the James Dyson Awards program, particularly the students who are in their first years with the faculty.
“Hands-on learning from the first year through our innovative curriculum yields enriching and impactful academic experiences,” she says. “This is a well-deserved honour for the WheelBeats team and hopefully inspires future 1P13 students to engineering creative and thoughtful solutions.”
As national runners up, the WheelBeats team are moving onto the international James Dyson Award competition. Winners will be announced October 16.
About Integrated Cornerstone Design Projects in Engineering (1P13)
1P13 is the first of four Fundamental Skills in Engineering (FUSE) courses required for McMaster Bachelor of Engineering students. This innovative curriculum builds on knowledge year-over-year with students working in teams across disciplines. Students are challenged to bridge technical and non-technical skills to address complex problems. The results are smarter insights, more well-rounded future engineers and career-confident graduates.