Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle (MI): Document = Display

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Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle (MI)

March 5,=20 2008

Brother = Rice=20 grad's invention to help disabled people
ERIC CZARNIK C & G = Staff=20 Writer

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP = - Most=20 Americans need no help when it comes to eating, but Jon Dekar = knows that=20 isn't the case for everyone.

The Bloomfield Township native=20 remembers how his grandfather needed an assistant to feed him = because he=20 had a neuromuscular condition akin to Parkinson's disease. As a = result,=20 his grandfather felt helpless and was ashamed to eat in front of = his=20 family.

"I was pretty young at the time, but I felt bad for him," = Dekar=20 said. "And I wish there was something that I could've done to be = able to=20 help."

Although the grandfather died in 2003, Dekar has kept his = memory=20 alive. As an aspiring engineer, Dekar is trying to invent an = Independent=20 Feeding Device, or IFD. The machine could someday help people like = his=20 grandfather eat with dignity and independence.

While Dekar used to live in Bloomfield Township, he = currently=20 resides in Ohio and is studying engineering at the University of = Dayton.

According to Dekar, the device looks like a large bowl. The = bowl=20 serves as a carousel that contains several smaller compartments = for food.=20 By pressing a button or using voice activation, a robotic arm will = grab=20 food from the device and put it into the user's mouth, he said.

He said the machine does not require computer software to = work, and=20 the interface will be versatile enough to be used by hand or foot. = And=20 while the mechanical arm will be shaped like a human forearm, = Dekar=20 promised it wouldn't look too human. "We're not going to dress it = up in a=20 sleeve," he said.

Dekar, 20, started building the device 1 1/2 years ago for = a=20 freshman project at the University of Dayton. He then worked on = the=20 project independently, sought a patent and has almost finished a = design.=20 He is currently scoping out classmates for an engineering team.

As a 2006 graduate of Brother Rice High = School, Dekar=20 said he learned a computer program over there that now helps him = create=20 his invention. "I became very fluent in this CAD system and came = into=20 college with already a fairly decent idea of the design process," = he said.

Dekar had a curiosity for how things work ever since he was = little.=20 He said he grew up building advanced LEGO kits and having a love = for=20 airplanes, rockets, cars and outer space.

Dekar's father, Tom, said he knew that his son's passion = for=20 engineering was innate. "His favorite toy was a screwdriver," he = said. "He=20 is very much a builder."

That was evident, the father said, when Dekar returned to = his=20 Bloomfield Township home for Thanksgiving and Christmas during his = freshman year. During those times, he sometimes worked on the = feeding=20 device from morning until night, though he took breaks for = socializing.

Dekar hopes to start his own company in the future and jump = into=20 the innovative, entrepreneurial side of engineering upon = graduation.=20 "Design is very much a renaissance attitude," he said. "It = produce( s)=20 something that the world didn't know it was missing."

You can reach Staff Writer Eric Czarnik at = eczarnik@candgnews.comor=20 at (586) 498-1058.