Jigar Shah, who is pursuing his master’s of science in engineering management from the Center of Leadership Education department and ECE, was a member of the group that won The Lawrence Aronhime Award at the 20th annual Johns Hopkins University Business Plan Competition. The competition is hosted by CLE, and the award is given to the project that has the most impactful solution within international outreach.
Shah’s project, which he developed with Juhi Salgaonkar (pursuing a master’s in engineering management from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Nano-Biotechnology)) and Milind Joshi (pursuing a master’s in engineering management from the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering), is titled SteadyAid.
SteadyAid is an adaptive, wearable device which enables Essential Tremor (ET) patients to regain control of their hands by dampening the tremor. The device is aimed at improving the quality of life of the patients by assisting them in not just daily tasks like writing, eating, and cooking, but also providing an elegant solution that would allow them to overcome the social anxiety associated with ET. SteadyAid uses micro-controllers, motion sensor and vibration motors to dampen tremors.
“We were working on the idea since January 2019 in collaboration with engineers from Technion University in Israel, where we won the 3DS Hackathon,” Shah said. “Upon our arrival to Baltimore, we built a prototype with the help of the Center of Leadership Education and the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Johns Hopkins. Winning the Lawrence Aronhime Award was terrific and highly motivating. I would like to thank the Center for Leadership Education and [ECE Professor and Department Chair] Ralph Etienne-Cummings for their constant support throughout the project.”