Donor support, childhood experience fuel student orthotic research

A recipient of the John W. and Rosemary K. Brown Annual Scholarship in Chemical Engineering, Wootton is a junior in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.

As a child, Auburn student Morgan Wootton remembers the problems she had wearing ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs), which are medical braces used to support ankle joint motion and improve gait efficiency in individuals with a range of musculoskeletal impairments, including foot drop.

“One thing that stood out to me was the long turnaround time of an AFO,” she said. “My AFOs took about two weeks to be manufactured, so during the interim, I wore walking boots on both of my legs that were very bulky and hard to put on.” 

Thanks to scholarship support from the Auburn Family, Wootton is able to pursue her academic interests and take advantage of hands-on experiential learning opportunities. She is now researching the effects of patients’ height, weight and gait speed on custom 3D-printed AFOs, which can be manufactured much faster and at reduced cost to better meet the needs of individual patients, while simultaneously building a career in rehabilitation engineering.

A junior majoring in chemical engineering in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Wootton will present her findings at Auburn’s Undergraduate Research Symposium on March 26.

The problems she had wearing ankle-foot orthoses as a child have inspired Wootton to research ways to improve them.

“I’m especially excited since this will be my first time presenting my research,” she said. “This research is very personal to me. Being able to work on something that directly connects to my own experiences has been a dream come true.”

Wootton conducts her research in the Auburn University Biomechanical Engineering Lab under the direction of Auburn Alumni Engineering Council Associate Professor Michael Zabala. She is collaborating with graduate student Jaxie Brokamp to develop a standardized benchmark test that can determine how long an AFO can be used.

“My portion of the research focuses on investigating how different parameters impact the loading rate experienced by AFOs,” she said. “With this information, it may become possible to develop a standardized test capable of estimating the lifespan of these devices.”

Outside of her research and coursework, Wootton is extremely active on campus; she’s involved in the Society of Women Engineers and Greek Life and serves as a Cupola Engineering Ambassador and a Diamond Doll for Auburn’s baseball team. And after holding several positions in the College of Engineering’s student council, she was recently elected to serve as president of the college for Auburn’s Student Government Association.

“I am incredibly excited about this opportunity,” she said. “The college has invested so much in me, and I am grateful for the chance to give back in a meaningful way. One of my primary goals in this role is to expand resources for students applying to graduate school.”

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Wootton herself is considering graduate school after her senior year. But before that, she’ll gain some hands-on experience in her chosen field through an upcoming internship at Fitz-Thors, a small engineering consulting firm that works extensively in the biomedical engineering industry.

As a recipient of the John W. and Rosemary K. Brown Annual Scholarship in Chemical Engineering, Wootton is grateful for the financial support that has allowed her to conduct research in the Biomechanical Engineering Lab, helping her to refine her career goals and expand her research skills. She’s hoping to someday work in a rehabilitation hospital or other clinical environment where she can interact directly with patients while contributing to the design and development of new medical technologies.

“I truly appreciate the investment the Browns have made in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering,” she said. “Their kindness has helped me and so many others to be better prepared academically as we pursue our careers. Auburn has blessed me with an incredible community both within and beyond the College of Engineering.”