WDBJ7 Roanoke News and Weather NRV Lynchburg Danville | Sweet Briar College engineering class project helps bring jobs to more people in Lynchburg

Sweet Briar College engineering class project helps bring jobs to more people in Lynchburg

A company that gives disabled people a place to work can now offer jobs to more people because of some engineering students at Sweet Briar College.

Their class project is helping Lynchburg Sheltered Industries finish a difficult assignment in whole new way.

Making this safety device used to be a complicated task for Lynchburg Sheltered industries.

"We lost a lot of parts because we had to hold so many little parts at one time," says Gail Hubbard with Lynchburg Sheltered Industries.

Gail Hubbard says just getting workers started was a big headache.

"Trying to train people and getting them frustrated was not working."

So they asked engineering students at Sweet Briar College to come up with a better way.

"We were a little overwhelmed," says Sarah Smiley, a senior at Sweet Briar College.

But after a few weeks, they came up with a simpler, more efficient process, using a series of homemade tools.

"So they can use their hands and complete the project without having to hold five different things at once," says Katelyn James, a Sweet Briar Sophomore.

By using these devices, Sheltered Industries can employ more people on their project and get it all done safer.

"Versus four people that could do it, we now have 10 people that can do it," says Hubbard.

And they don't have to worry about this.

James: "If their fingers went in the wrong direction, they would be smashed under about 500 pounds of pressure," says James.

An accessory now holds everything in place, hands free.

The outcome was a pleasant surprise for Hubbard.

"I just figured they would throw something together just to help us out a little bit. I had no idea it would be that intense and that remarkable," says Hubbard.

That's praise the students weren't expecting.

"You don't always make something that is going to work in engineering, especially when you're in school," says Smiley.

"Just rewarding to know that all of the work and time we put into it is going to be beneficial," says James.

So now what was a tedious project can be done in a snap.

The engineering students recently won third place in a national contest for their work with Lynchburg Sheltered Industries.