(ANGOLA) - A team of Trine University engineering students has designed a device to help a wounded veteran return to one of his favorite hobbies.
Biomedical engineering seniors created the adaptive equipment for 61-year-old Gulf War veteran Chester Evitt, who lost the use of his arm after a serious fall in 2024. His arm had already been weakened years earlier during his military service.
Evitt, who now lives in Montana, connected with the Trine program through a Veterans Affairs adaptive sports program. The students spent a year developing a mechanism that allows him to shoot a bow again.
Student team leader Ava Dobbins said the device uses a skeletal frame that supports the weight of the bow while Evitt draws and releases the arrow.
Evitt traveled to northeast Indiana this week to meet the students and test the device. During the visit, he was able to draw his bow for the first time since his injury.
The group later tested the mechanism at Thunder Lakes shooting range near the Angola campus, making adjustments to improve the design and ensure it works reliably as Evitt works to return to archery.