Clicking through a video game with a hand-crafted device, senior Dheer Parikh launched a research career that has led to a variety of opportunities, from publishing a paper, presenting at a conference, and also gaining real experience in the field of engineering.
While attending a summer program at the University of Pennsylvania, Parikh’s invention, a wearable mouse controlled through subtle hand movements, was noticed by a professor in his program.
“At the program, I made a mouse… a ring that you wear, and depending on how you moved your hand, it would click or move the cursor,” Parikh said. “One day, I was clicking video games with it, and my professor saw me. He really liked it, so he offered to help me write a paper on it.”
His work with the professor, revolving around his creation, is what brought him back to Penn the next summer.
“I went back to UPenn on an internship basis under the same professor,” Parikh said. “He got rid of one of the [program’s] labs and redid it so it was based around my invention. I got to present that lab to the summer program students and help them do it.”
Parikh was able to work at the Inglis House, focusing on hands-on assistive-technology work, allowing him to explore how his early curiosity can snowball into real-world impact.
The Inglis House is a specialized long-term care community in Philadelphia for adults with severe physical disabilities. They offer a variety of services to promote independence and quality of life.
“Residents would come with a problem, saying, ‘I can’t undo this buckle,’ ‘I can’t hold a pencil,’ or ‘I want a cooler joystick for my wheelchair,’” Parikh said. “You would get a case and you’re on your own: design a solution, 3D-print it, test it.”
Through these opportunities, Parikh has explored his passion for engineering. Although, aside from being an educational pursuit, his work also holds value for real world application.
“The mouse device is definitely something I would continue to pursue,” Parikh said. “I was in talks with UPenn about a patent, and, even though it didn’t go through, I appreciate getting the chance to learn how to apply for one and what to be careful of so I don’t get swindled.”
Parikh’s experiences outside of school have helped him better understand what he wants to pursue in the future. However, he has known of his interest in engineering for a long time.
“When I was younger, I watched a lot of ‘How It’s Made’ and ‘Mythbusters.’ That definitely helped,” Parikh said.
Now, Parikh takes advantage of classes at Swarthmore College to further pursue his interest in engineering. He is taking ‘The World of Particles and Waves,’ which is an intro optical and quantum physics course.
“I want to go into quantum engineering, so that’s a really nice basis,” Parikh said.
