Abstract
For this sociotechnical synthesis, my technical problem and capstone research are very distinct compared to my sociotechnical research. Therefore, I will be explaining both of these problems, research and findings in depth, but separately.
10% of the US population has plantar fasciitis, which is inflammation in the musculoskeletal structures in the part of the foot that makes contact with the ground (Buchanan et al., 2025). Including plantar fasciitis, there are many other foot problems that can be caused by poor musculoskeletal structure. To fix this problem, my capstone team and I developed an orthotic that can readily adjust certain areas to give those areas the support it needs with air inflation. We developed pressure sensors that would give a reading of what areas of the foot have a healthy force distribution and what areas don’t. Then we would inflate the orthotic in specific areas to help support the areas with unhealthy force distributions. The areas that receive air are the metatarsal pad, located under where the metatarsals connect with the cuneiform bones, the arch support pad, located under the navicular and cuboid, and the heel support pad, under the calcaneus. Currently, we do not have any data supporting the function of the orthotic, but we hope that it will somewhat or fully achieve its purpose. Going further, we may try to get future BME capstone groups to improve on our design and make it functional to how my vision was when I came up with this idea. This would include making it lighter, more airtight, less bulky, remote controlled, and durable.
The sociotechnical problem I dealt with in my research was that certain stakeholder groups of the technology, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), do not have trust in this technology when it has the potential to solve a lot of the stakeholders’ problems. A survey done presented the data that the least informed stakeholder group, the public, or US adults, have a 37% acceptance, while a group of scientists, or the most informed stakeholder group have an 88% acceptance of GMOs (Funk & Rainie, 2015). To understand, I used Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) as my framework since GMOs have the potential to be developed in multiple ways to solve the problems of each of the stakeholders (Bijker et al., 2012). Through this research, it was found that the stakeholders of GMOs interact in an almost hierarchical structure. Scientists, who develop the GMOs are at the top. Governments take the findings (the GMOs) from the scientists and endorse the use of them to farmers. Farmers would then plant the GMO seeds and give the crops to grocery stores where the public would buy them. SCOT helped me argue that each of the stakeholder groups (some more than others) had GMOs developed in ways to improve their life. GMOs were made to help a nation’s population become healthier, like golden rice, which helps both the public and the government. For farmers, GMOs were developed to resist biotic and abiotic factors like drought, pests or weeds. With the current findings on GMOs being used to improve stakeholder sustainability, more research can be put into this technology to get more uses out of this technology. But the core problem of the lack of trust must be solved first. Having more PSA’s about GMOs, or more in-depth labels on the product would help the public realize that GMOs would not harm their body. Scientists can also work more to help prevent genetic drift to plants around GMO farms. So going further with this research, I think it would be wise to find a way to increase trust and get rid of current problems with GMOs so more research can be funded on making the technology better for each of the stakeholder groups.
I would like to acknowledge my peers from my capstone team, Ceci Fetteroff, Kasey Prybylski, Hannah Zook and Olivia Agolini for helping me make my idea into reality. I would like to acknowledge my advisor, Dr. Sean Russel, who gave us guidance on the project. Lastly, for my sociotechnical research, a big thanks goes to Dr. Caityln Wylie who presented frameworks, theories and strategies to help us write effective papers on our topics and problems we were researching as well as my peers who helped revise my paper.
