News We Love: Baby goat gets prosthetic leg, designed and built by NC engineering students
A baby goat is finally able to walk on four legs again, thanks to the hard work and expertise of Wilkes Community College engineering students in North Carolina. The students who designed and built her leg say itās an experience theyāll never forget.
"She is actually level, and she's standing up like a normal goat," said Tiffany Shepherd, Millie's owner. "That just makes me so happy to see."
It took the students weeks of measuring, designing, printing, and testing to get Millie standing tall.
Bryan Hartzog, the lead instructor for industrial engineering at WCC, said all of this started from a phone call from Shepherd asking for his help.
"I'm like, 'that's odd,'" said Hartzog. "But as I drove home, I'm like, 'OK, that could be something we could do maybe, or at least try.'"
He then brought it to his students, who quickly split into teams to design different parts of the leg and ultimately bring it together.
"There's a lot of moving parts to it, especially with ergonomics," said WCC student Ethan Jacko. "One of my main concerns going into this design process was, I want to make sure I do more help and harm, because if you don't do it right, you might end up injuring the animal more than helping it.
Students tell WXII they were nervous at first, going into this design and development process.
"It's been difficult trying to make sure all the ergonomics and stuff actually worked well," said student Matt Coleman. "But after seeing her actually take her first few steps with it and them being pretty solid steps, a lot of that nervousness was relieved."
Shepherd said that she canāt help but be grateful for everyone who stepped in to make this possible.
"I'm so thankful for that, and my heart is full because of it," she said.
Millieās journey doesnāt end here; she and Shepherd will keep coming back for upgrades and readjustments as needed.
