Indian student in UK helps long-haul flight exercise aid take off

london:  an indian engineering student at the university of sheffield in the uk has helped transform an invention into a usable gadget, designed to assist long-haul flight passengers and people with mobility problems.shamoil khomosi and fellow student alex mcnabb got involved after a local inventor, adam yusuf, asked the university for help to realise his vision for the active legs concept. the result is digital health rocka, soon to hit the market as a device able to measure movement and feed data back through its own phone-based app.“it was such a brilliant opportunity for me because it really complemented the theory of what i'd been learning but gave me real design freedom too,” said khomosi, a 20-year-old mechatronics and robotics student.“it was comparable to working in industry because i was thrown in at the deep end and had to figure out the design and also juggle the reality of costs. the really great thing for me was the fact that we all got on so well – adam, mohamed, alex, myself and pete mylon who led the project for the sheffield innovation programme,” he said.khomosi, who spent last summer working on the active legs project, is now on a work placement at mercedes' formula 1 manufacturing base as he strongly believes that combining his practical studies with "actual, real world industrial experience" will equip him with the skills he needs to find the job he wants.“i'd never have got the chance to be involved if it hadn't been for the sheffield innovation programme and the way it works with smes [small and medium enterprises] to give students experience of genuine engineering challenges. i'm incredibly proud of what we have achieved. the feedback from care homes helped us see just how valuable the product could really be for elderly people too and also helped us improve the prototype,” he said.inventor adam yusuf, who came to sheffield from somaliland in 1987, developed the idea for the active legs foot rocker in 2015 during long cramped flights in economy class between the uk and far east.“working with the university has been a win-win for everyone. i got the technical expertise i needed, the university was able to work with a local start up and shamoil got the chance for a very different kind of work experience which can go on his resume,” he said.the foot rockers are currently going through the patenting and intellectual property (ip) process as yusuf works with the sheffield company ‘we do 3d' to produce 100 each of two versions in the coming months. yusuf, who also chairs the sheffield somali community association israac centre, is meanwhile considering gaming applications for the invention.the university contribution to the project was partly funded by the sheffield innovation programme, a university of sheffield and sheffield hallam university collaboration designed to help the growth of local businesses. it is also part of the university of sheffield's made together initiative – a series of commitments and collaborations designed to make south yorkshire "healthier, more vibrant, more sustainable and more innovative".“we're really lucky at the university of sheffield because we have the iforge, a student-led makerspace, which has a range of modern and traditional equipment, from 3d printers to woodworking. it's a fantastic facility which shamoil and alex were able to use to build the early model,” said pete mylon, a senior university teacher.“it is also really making a difference to local smes and complements the ethos of our made together commitments to the region. it's a great facility for connecting with local companies, which could not otherwise afford the technical help,” he said.