RALEIGH, N.C. – N.C. State sophomore Jack Bolton is getting a head start on his future engineering career by developing a tool for those living with disabilities.

What You Need To Know

  • Jack Bolton, a sophomore at N.C. State, is designing an improved grabber tool, which enables users to pick up objects that are out of reach

  • Bolton, who has used a wheelchair his whole life, says he understands the day-to-day challenges facing many people with disabilities

  • He and his team are seeking feedback from fellow students to build a grabber that works with a wider variety of objects

Bolton lives with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic condition diagnosed shortly after birth, and has used a wheelchair his entire life. 

“I’ve always kind of had a problem-solving mindset, and I think that really kind of comes from my disability,” Bolton said. 

One challenge facing Bolton involves the limitations of grabbers, a tool designed to help pick up items that are out of reach. In a product development course, Bolton and a group of classmates are working to reinvent the problem with the current adaptive device. 

“I drop my phone and, you know, other small things. And so the grabber really just helps me to pick up anything that I drop, except the current options don’t do that very well,” Bolton said. 

With a vision for improvement, Bolton plans to design a new grabber that can accommodate various objects.

“So hopefully we’re going to design something that allows different objects to be picked up of different weights and different shapes,” Bolton said. 

To better understand user needs, the team has sought feedback from others at the university. Bolton sent a mass email to all students enrolled with the Disability Resource Office. They collected feedback and suggestions for the product from students who use the tool in their own lives.

“We created a chart that basically shows all of the needs and how we can measure if we’re filling those needs,” Bolton said. 

Insights from surveys and interviews have revealed gaps in the products on the market. 

“A lot of heavy items are hard to pick up, [and] a lot of big, bulky items that the claw can’t get around are hard to pick up,” Bolton said. 

As Bolton and his team continue to develop their ideas, the goal is still the same.

“We are really hoping that we can execute and create something that’s beneficial to people with mobility issues,” Bolton said. “I would love to see this become something bigger.” 

Bolton says many of those with disabilities face everyday challenges and hopes that change is in the near future.

“Something as simple as picking something up… that’s a challenge in our everyday life,” Bolton said. “Once people know that there’s a problem, that's when change happens.”