Outreach
- UA TOM Chapter Wins Two Global Prizes at Global Innovation Challenge
Just one year after its relaunch, The University of Alabama’s Chapter of Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM), led by Jesse Park and advised by Dr. Davami, has achieved remarkable success on the global stage, securing two prestigious global awards at TOM’s Global Innovation Challenge. This international competition inspires participants to design, engineer and create innovative technology aimed at empowering individuals with disabilities to live more independent and fulfilling lives. The core mission of the challenge is to develop open-source, affordable solutions that directly address the real-world needs of people with disabilities and their families.
The UA TOM team’s ingenuity and dedication were recognized with the following top honors:
🏆 Grand Prize in the Daily Living Category for their QuickClamp. The QuickClamp is a universal accessory for attaching the user’s wheelchair frame to any motorised scooter of choice. It can be adjusted to different wheelchair frame sizes and scooter widths.
QuickClamp 
Disassembled components of the QuickClamp. 
QuickClamp in use. 🏆 PrintLab Honorable Mention for their Parameterized Prosthetic Leg Cover. The PPLC is a lightweight 3D printed leg cover used for biological leg emulation. Its parametric design allows anyone to create their own custom leg cover that is 20-30x cheaper than existing options on the market.
PPLC in use. 
CAD model of the PPLC. This outstanding achievement places the UA team in elite company. Only four grand prizes are awarded across a highly competitive field of 68 campuses from 16 countries, including renowned institutions such as Vanderbilt University, Georgia Tech, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University. Notably, the University of Alabama TOM team was the sole U.S. university to win a grand prize and one of only two U.S. universities to receive multiple awards in the competition.
The UA TOM team included BIG Ideas contestants Jesse Park, Dexter Gard, Sandra Onyishi, alongside Zander Davidson, Camille Catron, Michael Auprince and Lisa Rosalie Lucy Clary Galibert. Their success underscores the university’s commitment to fostering innovation and social impact.
These open-source solutions can be found on TOM Global’s website at the following links: QuickClamp, PPLC
- THE UFO FILES Inspires Kids to Learn About Engineering and Technology
Two years ago, Dr. Davami received an unusual request. Could he answer questions about how an alien 3D-printer might function? He enthusiastically agreed to help, and his ideas helped shape a new book for kids and teens that blends a science fiction story with information about real, cutting-edge science and technology.
Get ready for The UFO Files by Kathryn Hulick, coming out August 5, 2025 with Quarto. Preorder now and get free activity sheets plus a chance to win exclusive prizes.
What’s the book about?
The year is 2033, and Earth’s first contact with an alien spacecraft has just taken place. Told through the recently declassified notes of an investigator known only as Polaris, The UFO Files is a dramatic, illustrated narrative exploring the ship’s arrival, its advanced technology, and humanity’s reactions to such an unexpected visitor.
As Polaris unravels this interstellar mystery, readers explore topics including:- Materials engineering and 3D printing
- Nuclear fusion and clean energy
- Using AI to decode alien languages
- Exoplanets, stars, and the search for life
- The Fermi paradox, astronomy, and deep-space travel
- Earth’s own alien-like life: glowing squid, flying insects, and photosynthetic sea slugs
Through torn-out headlines, stunning illustrations by Weston Wei, and engaging sidebars that explain real STEM concepts, The UFO Files becomes more than a sci-fi story—it’s a celebration of scientific curiosity, imagination, and tolerance.Â
Release date: August 5, 2025
Ages: 8+, ideal for 9–12 (Grades 4–7)
Preorder & Contest Info: https://www.quarto.com/campaign/TheUFOFilesIf you are interested in more work by Kathryn, check out the 2021 book Welcome to the Future: Robot Friends, Fusion Energy, Pet Dinosaurs & More as well! Subscribe to her Substack Wow! Tech & Nature to follow her writing.
- Students From Tuscaloosa Academy Visit Research Group
High school students from Tuscaloosa Academy visited the Davami Research Group. Dr. Davami’s students gave them a tour of the labs, teaching them about the research group’s work and the discipline of mechanical engineering.
Jesse Park (left) and Connor Simmons (right) are showing the visiting students the high strain rate testing setup in the advanced manufacturing lab. 
Nick Brooks (furthest left) and Dr. Davami (second from left) give students a tour of one of the research group’s labs. 
Connor Simmons (foreground, left) and Jesse Park (second from right) speak to students about the work of Tikkun Olam Makers. - Tikkun Olam Makers Hosts Pitch-A-Thon
Tikkun Olam Makers, the student organization for which Dr. Davami is the faculty advisor and Jesse Park is the president, just hosted the first-ever Pitch-a-thon on March 1st, 2025, in collaboration with The Cube, The Kennemer Center, Innovate Alabama, and The Engineering Entrepreneurship Program! Working solo or in up to teams of 5, participants were given 5 different case studies of people with disabilities and had 2.5 hours to ideate a solution to help one of them. Participants presented their ideas to judges with a mix of presentation slides and prototypes. With access to monitors, craft supplies, and whiteboards, groups had a plentitude of resources to ideate — one group even 3D printed a part during their presentation time! Congratulations to the top 3 teams that won $500 in prize money along with their very own plaques!
3D printer, filament, and other equipment used during the event. 
Two students are presenting an idea for a set of AI-powered glasses capable of making a narration of the surroundings for someone who is visually impaired, as well as controlling a vibrating bracelet. 
A student presents work on a CollarOptic Necklace in front of a panel of judges. 
Jesse Park (center) and another student present an idea for an airplane wheelchair. 
Two students are brainstorming a solution for one of the case studies. 
Organizers and participants after the event. Jesse Park is in the back row, furthest to the right, and Dr. Davami is second furthest. - Tikkun Olam Makers Collaborate with EcoCAR
The UA Tikkun Olam Makers, led by Jesse Park and advised by Dr. Davami, have collaborated with UA’s EcoCAR on their Equity in Mobility Challenge. Together, they developed portable hand controls for automobiles, augmented to allow for integration with complex pedal geometry and enhanced stabilization.
A student holds the hand control device. Testing of the device in an automobile. - Tikkun Olam Makers Conducts Project with Adapted Athletics
Tikkun Olam Makers has recently collaborated with UA’s Adapted Athletics Department to develop solutions for a UA student with a disability.
Michael Auprince had previous issues when wearing pants with his prosthetic leg, as the size discrepancy often led to awkward flapping in the wind and excess fabric getting caught and ruining the pants. To combat this issue, Jesse Park worked with Michael to design a shell with an inner portion that outlines the prosthetic leg and an outer portion that imitates the size and shape of his other leg.
The shell designed for Michael Auprince. - Tikkun Olam Makers Develop Treaded Wheel Cover
In collaboration with UA’s Adapted Athletics Department, the Tikkun Olam Makers Offroad Team tested a prototype for a treaded wheel cover with Lisa Clary Galibert. The device embodies frugal innovation by resourcing old bike tires. The straightforward, simplistic design allows for intuitive need-knower installation and removal.
Installation and removal of the device. Use of the device. - Undergraduate and High School Students Run Experiment
High school students joined Dr. Davami’s undergraduates to conduct an impact experiment in the advanced manufacturing laboratory.
A high school student mounts the specimen to the stopper. 
A high school student secures the high-speed camera on a tripod while an undergraduate student prepares a lens. 
Students are setting up a high-speed camera to film the experiment. - Dr. Davami and Jesse Park to Lead UA Tikkun Olam Makers
Dr. Davami became the advisor for UA’s Tikkun Olam Makers Medical Engineering Group (TOM), and Jesse Park, one of Dr. Davami’s undergraduate researchers, became the organization’s president. This student organization is aimed at designing low-cost, open-source solutions for those with disabilities. This often includes designing assistive devices and putting them on the TOM repository, so that anyone can 3D print them. TOM is a global organization with its website at tomglobal.org. UA’s chapter is focused on helping those with disabilities around Alabama, which is one of the poorest states in the nation. It also collaborates with other campus organizations, including EcoCAR and Adapted Athletics, on developing assistive technology. Interested students are encouraged to join the TOM GroupMe.
2024 TOM Fellows standing with the Toddler Mobility Trainers that they built at the Georgia Tech Innovation Studio. The TOM Toddler Mobility Trainer enables children with disabilities, ages 6 months to 3 years, to move independently and interact with other children as equals. 
TOM tabling at Get On Board Day. Some of the open-source 3D printed TOM products are visible on the table. 
One of Dr. Davami’s students, Jesse Park (back left), building a Toddler Mobility Trainer with 3 other TOM Fellows. - High School Students Conduct Research
In the summer of 2023, high school students conducted research in Dr. Davami’s lab.
A high school student conducts a quasistatic compression test. 
A high school student processes specimens from a 3D printer. - Engineer from Industry Visits Research Group
The Davami Research Group recently hosted Mr. Toshi Suzuki, an engineer from PULSTEC. He led a workshop on residual stress measurements using an XRD method for undergraduate students.
He also gave a talk to undergraduate students in one of Dr. Davami’s classes.
- Research Group Hosts High School Students
Dr. Davami hosted ~30 high school students including underrepresented minority students through LITE program. The students along with two of their teachers became familiar with mechanical engineering, and worked on several educational projects, including design and fabrication of a pressure sensor.
Dr. Davami and a member of his research team are testing a homemade pressure sensor with high school students. 
Dr. Davami and his graduate student are explaining 3D printing concept to visiting high school students.