Thorhild native recognized for provincial honour 

 
By Brandie Majeau 
Megan Bauer, who graduated from Thorhild Central School in 2021, went on to further
her studies at NAIT with Biomedical Engineering Technology.  After years of hard work, Bauer
has received a provincial honour as she and her former team of students are recognized as
finalists for this year’s Capstone Project of the Year Award.  This award is given out annually by
the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET).  A
capstone project is a major part of many engineering technology diplomas and is a cumulative assignment designed to
allow students to complete independent group studies and create solutions that can be applied
to the real world.  Bauer explained that during these projects, their teachers are there to guide
them “but they do not help with student ingenuity.” The Capstone Project of the Year Award
was created in 2017 as a response to the numerous interest in stories by teams of engineering
technology students throughout many colleges across Alberta. 
Megan Bauer and her former team of NAIT biomedical engineering technology students
originally got the idea for their Capstone project based on one of the team member’s summer
jobs, researching and analyzing patients of spinal cord damage.  They worked together to
create a design that combined readings and sensors as a method to track and analyze a
patient’s progress through their shoes.  Tippy Tap Toes was the result of this project.  This
incredible young team designed an approach that uses transmitters, sensors, and an
accelerometer to collect data in real-time and display it as a 3D model through a game engine.
Bauer expressed that while they faced many challenges, she and her team did not view
anything as a failure.  There were things that didn’t work the way they originally designed them,
so they just went in a different direction. 
However, even though there were “no failures”, Bauer said they definitely experienced
successes.  When the first circuit was completed, there was cause for celebration.  As the
project progressed, she said some of the highlights of accomplishment included the connection
to the graphical user interface and when the readings from the shoes were accurately
displayed.  Megan Bauer also expressed her satisfaction with her team of students, explaining
that while they were allowed to pick their own groups for the project, they picked really well
and worked well as a team unit.  In a statement released by Calico Communications for ASET,
they commented: “Though T3 was originally intended to assist in a rehabilitation environment,
it also has the potential to be applied to the area of sports medicine or even used as a
controller to incorporate foot motion in virtual reality games,” said Frank Gauthier. “It’s a cost-
effective and easy-to-use method of analyzing a patient’s walking pattern with almost any shoe
type.”  Megan Bauer humbly remarked, “This was not something that I expected!” 
Tippy Tap Toes is one of nine finalists for the 2023 ASET Capstone Project of the Year
and Bauer continued to express her enthusiasm.  “Here we are! I’m really excited and looking
forward to the outcome.”  The prize-winning design will be announced at the end of October. 
ASET CEO, Barry Cavanaugh released the flowing public statement: “Megan Bauer and her
former NAIT teammates really stepped up with their development of a highly portable
approach to gait analysis. Kudos to them for putting their best foot forward with this project

and, in so doing, putting the public good first.”  Bauer is entitled to her excitement; with her
small-town beginnings, she is moving on to do great things.