Purdue’s all-woman team wins Stryker Engineering Challenge

An all-woman team from Purdue won the third annual Stryker Engineering Challenge Sept. 27-28 at Stryker Medical in Portage, Mich.

Team members were Bakytgul Khaday, Gwenlynn Schroeder, Sarah Small and Rachel Lindsay. Khaday and Schroeder are electrical engineering technology majors, and Small and Lindsay are mechanical engineering majors.

Each team member won an iPad3 and a chance to interview for a summer internship with Stryker.

The Purdue group competed against teams from the University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame, Michigan State University, University of Illinois, and Western Michigan University.

The challenge asked the teams to tackle five robotic tasks that simulate real-life medical needs. They ranged from transferring an automobile accident victim up a steep incline to assisting with emergency surgical procedures.

Team advisors were Jerry Matthews, director of  the Office for Industrial Experience in the School of Mechanical Engineering, and Neal Widmer, professor of electrical and computer engineering technology in the College of Technology.

(Photo: Bakytgul Khaday, Rachel Lindsay, Sara Small and Gwenlynn Schroeder celebrate their win at the Stryker Engineering Challenge.)