The Stony Brook University Student Chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) strives to help students develop professionally and to familiarize students with the engineering industry by providing exposure to real-world applications.  The Go Baby Go project involves modifying off-the-shelf toy cars to allow access and mobility for special needs children between the ages of 2 and 7.

Mechanical engineering students with modified toy car.

The organization’s faculty advisor, Professor Anurag Purwar, introduced the students to Keep Moving Forward (KMF), a state-of-the-art, intensive physical therapy outpatient center in Garden City, Long Island. Amanda Kannengeiser, a physical therapist at KMF, has led the Go Baby Go movement for this chapter.

ASME’s collaboration with KMF has been centered around “Go Baby Go,” a project that falls directly in line with the goals of the organization.

“Go Baby Go provided an outlet to utilize my studies for the betterment of the community,” said Brian Clark, Stony Brook ASME’s Public Relations Chair.

The impact and potential of this program is incredible and far reaching. It provides an excellent outlet for engineering students to use their knowledge and expertise to make a great impact. “For kids with mobility issues, these cars are priceless. It gives them the chance not only to explore the world around them but relate to their peers,” Amanda said.

ASME and KMF will continue to collaborate in the future to explore new designs and ideas that could further the impact of this great program.

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The simple act of registering voters pushed Elif Onay ’21 out of her comfort zone, and she’s grateful for that.

Elif Onay focuses on the importance of voter registration.

Now the team leader for Stony Brook’s Center for Civic Justice, the 20-year-old from Staten Island has worked tirelessly to help create one of the most robust college voter registration models nationwide. It hasn’t always been easy.

“A lot of the times when there’s doubt about something, it’s because there’s fear about it,” Onay said. “If you talk about something as dark as climate change, people are scared of it because there’s not enough education on the facts.”

“Elif has impressed me with her work on civic activism on the Stony Brook campus to improve the rates of voter registration.

She has also been very active in the Turkish-American community,” said Nilsu Goren, former program director for the Turkish Coalition of America. “Through the Youth Leadership Congress and Washington internship, she has also gained skills on congressional outreach and grassroots activism,”

Onay’s experience has helped her tap into the Turkish half of her personality, and helped her make friends and connections along the way. Learning about Turkey increased Onay’s appreciation for the Center for Civic Justice, since Turkey, like many other countries, faces challenges in voter representation and civic engagement.

“If you don’t try to expand your horizons, what were you put on this earth for?” Onay said.

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Outside of a temporary pop-up clinic at a Cookeville, Tennessee high school, patients had been sleeping in cars and waiting upwards of 24-hours for medical, dental, and vision care. This level of need is pervasive in the areas of Appalachia visited by Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine in its 10 years of partnership with Remote Area Medical (RAM).

SBU team provides dental care in a high school gym in Tennessee.

“Many of these patients only see a dentist when a RAM event comes to town,” explained Dr. Scott Firestone, clinical assistant professor. “Some travel hundreds of miles, arriving in the middle of the night to get a ticket of admission.”

“I strongly believe that as health care providers, we have an obligation to help those less fortunate than us and to have dental students participate in these missions is of paramount importance,” said Dr. Gabriele Conte, clinical assistant professor. “Not only are they learning how to handle difficult extractions and operative procedures, but more importantly, they are helping their fellow Americans,” he said.

Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine students and faculty participate in two to three RAM events per year, typically in Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee.

Over 150 students have attended these outreach missions over the past decade, with the next mission scheduled for the fall of 2019.

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