{"id":18352,"date":"2016-06-03T16:10:35","date_gmt":"2016-06-03T16:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baylorproud.wpengine.com\/?p=18352"},"modified":"2016-06-06T13:56:28","modified_gmt":"2016-06-06T13:56:28","slug":"camilles-big-girl-swing-a-baylor-engineering-student-project-with-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/2016\/06\/camilles-big-girl-swing-a-baylor-engineering-student-project-with-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCamille\u2019s Big Girl Swing\u201d &#8212; A Baylor engineering student project with heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-18356\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/swing-june16.jpg\" alt=\"Camille Whitt\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/swing-june16.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/swing-june16-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/swing-june16-768x384.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When 7-year-old Camille Whitt sat in her motorized swing for the first time, she paused for a brief second. Camille had long ago physically outgrown her old infant swing, but\u00a0an undiagnosed neurological disorder has\u00a0limited her development to the level of a 4-\u00a0to 6-month-old &#8212; the age many children enjoy swings the most.<\/p>\n<p>As Camille sat in her new chair for the first time,\u00a0Baylor engineering students &#8212; who had <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kwtx.com\/content\/news\/Waco-BU-students-design-special-swing-for-girl-with-special-needs-378881821.html\">designed the swing especially for her<\/a> &#8212; waited off to the side, watching\u00a0anxiously to see her reaction. They got their answer almost instantaneously. Camille can\u2019t speak, but\u00a0her approval\u00a0came through loud and clear, thanks to\u00a0a delighted squeal and laughter that wouldn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n<p>The world of engineering isn\u2019t often associated with emotion, laughter and glassy eyes, but it was at Baylor last month. \u201cCamille\u2019s Big Girl Swing,\u201d a capstone project by Baylor engineering students, isn\u2019t your average engineering project, just like Camille is more than just an average client. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rvNHkpTJFEI\">Just watch the video<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0you\u2019ll likely experience the same emotions as the people there.)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rvNHkpTJFEI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Camille&#8217;s family knows there\u2019s a lot they can do to help her enjoy life. Her father, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baylor.edu\/ifl\/index.php?id=70010\">Dr. Jason Whitt<\/a>, is both a Baylor graduate (BA &#8217;96, PhD &#8217;08) and\u00a0associate director of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baylor.edu\/ifl\/\">Baylor\u2019s Institute for Faith and Learning<\/a>. More than three years ago, a conversation with colleagues in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecs.baylor.edu\">Baylor&#8217;s\u00a0School of Engineering and Computer Science<\/a> (ECS) set the wheels in motion to build something special for his daughter. Whitt explained that Camille loved the soothing rocking motion in the safety swings most infants enjoy, but she outgrew them. ECS professors saw an opportunity to help.<\/p>\n<p>Every year, senior and graduate engineering students participate in a capstone project. They come together as a team to use their skills to meet a need. It\u2019s more than a final project; it\u2019s an opportunity to bless individuals or families with whom they can build a relationship. Through capstone projects, ECS students experience firsthand that their calling can be a mission to serve others. Building a swing for Camille was the perfect fit.<\/p>\n<p>Design and construction of the swing provided plenty of challenges to solve. How could\u00a0it continually rock at the correct speed? What needed to be done to keep her safe while in it? Could\u00a0it hold the weight of a still-growing girl, and could\u00a0the motor hold up? Even questions about Camille\u2019s favorite color (purple) and movie characters (Disney princesses) were important. It took three teams tackling the swing for three semesters over a three-year period to get it just right. The 10\u00a0ECS students on this year\u2019s team took the project across the finish line and watched Camille enjoy it for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>For the Whitt family, it\u2019s a life-changing gift that is incredibly meaningful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was more than we ever anticipated it being,\u201d says Dr. Whitt. \u201cTo all the students and faculty who worked on this, we are eternally grateful for your commitment, for your love, for your diligence in getting it done. It has made a difference to our family, and I know it\u2019s made a difference in all the families\u2019 lives. These students will be excellent engineers &#8212;\u00a0engineers who will make a difference for God\u2019s kingdom as they go from this place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sic \u2019em, Camille Whitt and Baylor engineering students!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>(Photo via KWTX\/Madison Adams, BA &#8217;15; video by GRNWRKS Media\/Christian Green, BA &#8217;14)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When 7-year-old Camille Whitt sat in her motorized swing for the first time, she paused for a brief second. Camille had long ago physically outgrown her old infant swing, but\u00a0an undiagnosed neurological disorder has\u00a0limited her development to the level of a 4-\u00a0to 6-month-old &#8212; the age many children enjoy swings the most. As Camille sat [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13,14,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academics","category-service","category-student-life","category-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18352\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}