2010 Sustainability Report - Cummins.com

Mary Kate (left), can only move her right index finger. Thanks to Cummins engineers like Mark Weber and Mike Miller, she can use a
specially designed joystick to operate a computer. They also re-engineer electronic toys and devices so disabled children can use them.
The story of one little girl, Mary Kate, shows the
power of their work. Mary Kate, born with spinal
muscle atrophy, can only move her right index finger.
The engineers needed to find a way to allow Mary
Kate to use a computer even though she can push
less than half a pound, less than the pressure needed
to move the average mouse or joystick.
Weber and his team found one joystick that might
have worked, but it required more strength than
Mary Kate had. So the team kept working and
experimenting until they came upon the solution
– modify the computer’s joystick with a pressuresensitive
switch, enabling the youngster to use the
computer just like any other child.
“Doing this work for the Courage Center allows us
to use our skills that not a lot of people have,”
Weber said. More than that, it gives Weber and his
co-workers a chance to be creative as they figure
out how to rewire something as simple as a squirt
gun so that a disabled child can use it by pressing
a button rather than squeezing a trigger.
“It might sound like a simple thing,” said Jan Malcolm,
Chief Executive Officer of the Courage Center, “but a
squirt gun that works for a child with a significant
disability is pretty important.”
Courage Center
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Mission: To empower people with disabilities
to realize their full potential in every aspect of life.
History: The nonprofit organization was founded in
1928 to provide tools, technologies and resources to
improve the lives of disabled children and adults.
Special features: Specializes in treating brain injury,
spinal cord injury, stroke, chronic pain, autism and
disabilities experienced since birth.
Cummins involvement: In addition to financial
support from The Cummins Foundation and Cummins
Power Generation, the Community Involvement Team
at Fridley provides volunteer support, including the
work of five engineers who adapt technology to be
used by people who are disabled.