Two tenth-grade student teams from Principia School have been recognized as finalists in the international PrintLab & Autodesk Make:able Challenge for designing innovative assistive devices that improve the lives of people with disabilities. Among 17 projects submitted by Principia students in the STEM program, two teams advanced to the final round of the competition. Their recognition highlights the students’ creativity, technical skill, and commitment to human-centered design.
As part of Principia School's interdisciplinary CoLab program, every tenth-grade student partnered with an individual with a disability to better understand that person's daily experiences and challenges. Guided by their client's feedback, students designed, tested, and refined 3D-printed solutions to improve quality of life. Both projects were developed through Principia School's CoLab program that integrates science, social studies, and English in project-based experiences that challenge students to solve real-world problems.
Principia’s Air Benders team was named a finalist in the Best Use of 3D Printing (Ages 14–18) category. The team worked with Izzy, a young girl living with Batten disease (CLN7), a rare genetic disorder that makes swallowing difficult and requires a suction machine to help prevent choking.
The students designed a custom mount that securely attaches the suction machine to her HOGGI Bingo stroller, giving Izzy and her mother greater mobility while keeping the lifesaving equipment safely in place. Through multiple rounds of prototyping and refinement, the students developed a lightweight yet durable structure that evenly distributes weight to improve safety and stability. Their solution demonstrates how 3D printing can create highly customized, low-volume devices that would be difficult to source or manufacture using traditional methods.
"I'm having trouble with words," Izzy's mother said. "I feel like just being able to put her suction machine on the back of her chair and go could be life-changing."
Judge Megan Ewing, Director of Secondary Education at 1st Maker Space, praised the project, saying, "One of the major benefits of 3D printing is the ability to customize. This project took full advantage of that and created a device that will greatly improve the everyday lives of the users."
Principia’s Easy Bite team earned finalist recognition in the Best Showcase of Iterative Design (Ages 14–18) category for developing a lightweight snack grabber tailored to the needs of a user named Aimee Wehmeier, a leader and advocate for people with disabilities who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Throughout the design process, students explored multiple concepts—including finger chopsticks, gripping claws, and extended grabbers— while learning from repeated testing, printing failures, sizing challenges, and reach limitations. Each prototype informed the next, resulting in a practical, user-centered design customized to Aimee’s strength, mobility, and comfort.
Judge Tony Ryan, CEO of The Design and Technology Association, commended the team's thoughtful approach. "Based on a simple chopstick concept, the team has explored anthropometrics and ergonomics through a process of trial and error, getting it wrong and learning through tests with the user. Well documented and explained throughout."
"This recognition reflects not only students' creativity, perseverance, and design thinking,” said Melanie Shedd, Chemistry Teacher and Science Department Chair at Principia School. “These are skills cultivated through Principia’s CoLab framework, which provides opportunities for authentic learning and iterative problem-solving,”
Check out all the finalist's designs and video submissions: