Michigan

Michigan AgrAbility Demonstration Farm will host a virtual farm tour for Michigan Rehabilitation counselor partners and will demonstrate a large number of assistive technology equipment on the farm on October 14. As readers may remember from an e-Note last year, Michigan AgrAbility partnered with Holland area farmer Doug VerHoeven to establish a demonstration farm where farmers can "try before they buy"... see and try a variety of assistive technology tools and equipment before investing in aids that can sometimes carry a hefty price tag. A bit about Doug.... In high school, he was in a vehicle accident and sustained injuries that required him to use a wheelchair. Undeterred, he has been farming from his wheelchair for over forty years! Doug is a member of the Michigan AgrAbility farmer advisory panel and an AgrAbility client. Michigan AgrAbility is grateful for Doug's generosity to share his life's learning and his farmstead so others can benefit. The goal of the October 14 event is to allow Michigan Rehabilitation counselors to see the tools and equipment and, hopefully, to increase their understanding of farming and agriculture.

The MSU College of Engineering's 2019 Fall Edison Undergraduate Design Award was given to the Mechanical Engineering (ME) 481 design team that was judged to have produced the best technical design project. The winners were Team Michigan AgrAbility!! (Left to right: Joe Gusumano, Bradford Chapman, Ryan Qamar, Jeffrey Masten-Davies, Maria Daniela Martin Pereira). Michigan AgrAbility was the project sponsor and Ned Stoller worked closely with the AgrAbility design team. The team focused on designing and manufacturing an "Automatic Gate Opener," an automatic gate opening system that could easily be installed on a wide variety of gates and could be used by agricultural workers across Michigan and the U.S. The gate opener consisted of an actuator connected to the gate and was operated by a push-button similar to a garage door opener.

Submitted by Deb Chester