RICHMOND, Ky. — Eastern Kentucky University is partnering with Toyota. EKU’s occupational therapy program and manufacturing program, along with the automaker, are collaborating to make manufacturing work places as safe as possible.
Maddie Spears’s capstone project focused on improving assembly lines in the manufacturing industry through an occupational therapy lense.
“I collaborated with engineering experts to kind of redesign that process and build a new work station that improves ergonomics and prevents risk of injury for people that are going to be doing those job tasks,” Spears said.
Spears graduated from EKU’s OT program this past spring. For her, it’s a career she knew she wanted to do since high school.
“I have a little cousin who has down syndrome and I spent a lot of time with him and I was kind of exposed to OT through watching him work with an occupational therapist and I just immediately loved that,” Spears said.
Thursday, the university celebrated its collaboration with Toyota. The automaker donated engines and parts to aid Spears in her research. Spears’s work includes resources that can be built into occupational therapy and manufacturing engineering curriculum.
“We’re an institution that not only teaches but we are also an institution committed to learning and learning from our partners, from our employers and making sure our students are work-ready are ready for a fruitful career and to make a difference in the lives of everyone,” said EKU president, David McFaddin.
Mark Klee, head of powertrain at Toyota Kentucky, said the workstation improvements can apply to any assembly line, not just Toyota’s.
“EKU’s curriculum really focuses on course design to incorporate hands-on experiences that produce people with walk-on capability to solve these real-world problems,” Klee said.
According to an EKU news release, the university’s occupational therapy program is ranked 22nd in the country by U.S. News and World Report.
EKU’s manufacturing engineering program is the only one of its kind in Kentucky.