UTC Engineering helps HES Chihuahua

July 17, 2024

Rainey Randolph,

Photo Credit: Angela Foster, University Photographer

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s (UTC) Engineering department swooped in to help a Humane Educational Society (HES) dog in need.

A recent graduate of the UTC mechanical engineering department, Connor Mackey, and department faculty member, Trevor Elliot, were happy to help a 2.5-pound Chihuahua puppy named Niblet.

Niblet is 10 weeks old and has a soft spot that’s about one and half centimeters long on the top of his head, which means that his skull is not fully fused.

With Niblet’s condition, any accident can be potentially life threatening to him, and therefore he needed help.

“Our animal services officers wanted to see the best outcome for him and started brainstorming ideas like, ‘How could we get the head protected? Do we know anybody who can do us a favor?’ That’s when Dr. Sam brought up the contacts that she had from over at UTC,” said HES Director of Veterinary Services Sarah Callahan. “She made a couple of phone calls, and I want to say later that afternoon, they were scanning the dog’s head for a helmet and coming up with a little prototype.”

Photo Credit: Angela Foster, University Photographer

Mackey, who will be pursuing a Master of Science: Engineering this fall, said he knew exactly what to do. “As soon as I saw the email chain, I knew exactly how to do this. I knew I could actually help this dog.”

Mackey and Elliot got to work, creating a 3D printed helmet specifically designed for Niblet’s head, and with the help of Volkswagen’s Justin Stephens, they were able to scan Niblet’s head to get the 3D image.

After multiple tries, they were pleased with their creation, and on Monday July 15, Niblet was fitted for his helmet.