t; and Nathaniel Young; a biomedical engineering student. The students researched prosthetic limbs, and, taking a cue from props featured in the film "Aliens," they designed a plastic exoskeleton that could slide over the client's right hand and arm. To help move his fingers and elbow, the students tested and rejected systems using electromagnets and air pressure systems. They finally settled on two small but powerful stepper motors. These could move the fingers and elbow in small, slow increments, allowing the client to clasp a cup firmly without crushing it. In addition, these motors did not require con- tinuous electrical current to stay in position, which preserves battery power. The students linked the motors to a series of cables and springs to enable the device to move the man's arm into position and help his fingers grasp and release. The students opted for voice recognition software as an easy way for the disabled man to control the grasping device. After the software is trained to the client's voice, the man will first say "arm" or "hand" to take command of one of the two motors. The elbow motor will then respond to "raise," "down," or "stop." The hand motor will respond to "open," close," and "stop." The device is hard-wired to a control box that contains a miniature computer and two programs that turn the voice commands into signals that tell the motors how to operate the bending and grasping motions. The unit is powered by a rechargeable 12-volt lead-acid battery commonly used for remote-control model boats and airplanes. The control box fits inside a small pack that the man can carry on his waist, making the grasping the device fully portable. DISABLED ACCESS "[The students] came up with a very creative design for the device," says Jan Hoffberger, executive director of Volunteers for Medical Engineering. "They purposely set it up to move very slowly, SO that at any time in the grasp- ing and lifting process, our client can tell it to stop. We believe he will find it very helpful." The students had t