GRADES 9-12
DESIGN A PARAPLEGIC EQUESTRIAN SADDLE

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Equipment Design The most important factor in equipment design is safety, for the participating athlete as well as the other athletes and individuals in the area. Athletes with motor disabilities often have stability, maneuverability and control issues. In competition, sport governing bodies are concerned with allowing accessibility to athletes to participate balanced with inhibiting devices which would provide a skill advantage. Development and marketplace costs of assistive devices is an important consideration. Adaptive equipment in many sports is individualized based on the specific capabilities of the athlete. Subsequently, the market is small or may even be just one individual, therefore it is understandable that expensive design development costs may discourage high tech solutions. Engineering Design Engineering has been called "constrained design". Theodore von Karman (co-founder of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory) said "Scientists discover what is, ... engineers create what has never existed." While the design of any object might seem like an overwhelming task, there are proven methods to lead you step by step through any design process. The process begins with a clear problem definition to understand your goal. You must know where your target is to hit the bullseye. Often your client or customer may not be able to define exactly what they want and may not be the end user. For example, your client could be a sporting goods company, but the end user, who will use the equipment, is a paraplegic rider and the horse!