Marine veteran Josh Doyle hasn't been able to pedal a bicycle since an explosion injured his leg when he was deployed to Iraq in 2003.
Connecting with a team of San Diego State mechanical engineering seniors at the start of the fall semester changed that.
"I think it's just really cool all the way around," Doyle said. "I love that they do this for veterans. I love that I'm able to take part in it."
Doyle lives in Spokane, Washington. He said his wife told him about the nonprofit Project S.E.R.V.E., which connects veterans to engineering students around the country. Students like SDSU senior Will Brandenberger, who said at the start of the school year his team was looking for more than just a homework project.
"I'm great with numbers and we all are, but we wanted something that would feel fulfilling," Brandenberger told KPBS Wednesday at the university's Senior Design Day event.
The challenge was to help compensate for Doyle's limited range of motion. Doyle said it was the only thing keeping him out of the saddle — and from riding bikes with his two kids.
"I've had 16 surgeries trying to repair my leg," he said. "And now ... I'm kind of stuck at this 88-degree, 85-degree limited range of motion ... So when we go for bike rides, I kind of just walk behind them."
The final product is a stainless steel pedal custom-made to fit Doyle's e-bike. It allows him to evenly pedal with both legs even though one has a much shorter rotation.
"It's been actually very easy, a lot more intuitive (and) easier than I thought it was going to be with my leg," Doyle said. "So I'm very excited about that. I thought it was gonna be a lot more awkward and cause a lot more pain, but it's really, really flawless."
Engineering senior Nikhil Maharaj said that while the pedal looks simple, they went through several prototypes before dialing in the design. Being custom-made for someone out-of-state added to their challenges.
"Our project is distinctly person-facing and there's not many quantitative variables that you can receive back after testing," Maharaj said.
Brandenberger said the project was more to the team than a homework assignment.
It was just really fulfilling," he said. "It's not just a homework assignment you turn in and you get a good grade back — you turn it back and you see a smile."
Brandenberger said the team won't know whether they've earned an A on the project until next week.
