The sun glimmered off the fresh green paint of Chris Casey's tailor-made tricycle as he took his first spin.

Equipped with a padded seat pulled from an Oldsmobile Achieva, an orange flag and a backpack with a built-in water bottle, Casey's favorite part of the cycle is its green-and-white color scheme.

"They're MSU," the 21-year-old man said. "It's just what I wanted."

Casey struggles with a cerebral palsy-like disease, scoliosis and impairments in coordination and balance.

The conditions prevent him from gaining many of the freedoms a two-wheel bicycle or a car can give.

"It's going to allow me to be more independent," said Casey, who is a part-time student studying media technology at Lansing Community College.

The bike was built by mechanical engineering seniors Nick Abbruzzese, Joe Cornillaud, Dan Washenko and Scott Watson.

The student team said they sought to design a tricycle that wouldn't draw much attention but would provide Casey with a much-desired mode of transportation.

Casey's cycle is one of the 21 projects the Department of Mechanical Engineering has finished for its 17th annual Design Day, in the Union today.

The students worked in teams of four with 17 different companies on projects ranging from a cooling mechanism to dental equipment.

"We are solving real-world problems," Design Coordinator Brian Thompson said.

"They go off-campus and work with companies.

"They can solve manufacturing problems in the company or they can create brand-new devices."

Thompson said he wants to continue to do one project each year benefiting somebody from the MSU community.

For Cornillaud, the cycle project was set apart from the others because he could see the results of their work firsthand.

"This shows how engineering can better the community," he said. "It is more than helping GM's stock rise a quarter of a point."

Chris Casey's father, Terry Casey, works in engineering research at MSU and his mother, Karen Casey, is the director of service learning for the university.

"Many of these students have a potential to do networking that may lead to a job," Karen Casey said.

"These four men are doing it with the sole interest to help people with no chance of networking."

One of the most exciting parts of the semester long project was the input Karen Casey saw her son put into the project.

Chris Casey is listed as the team's adviser.

"He has been an active partner in what has been going on," Karen Casey said. "It has been empowering for him and gratifying for me."

This will also give Chris Casey a chance to gain independence from his parents, which Karen Casey said he is ready for.

"He has not been able to ride a two-wheel bike or drive a car," she said.

"You don't always want to ask your folks to take you to the video store."

Terry Casey echoed his wife's excitement.

"He can go see his friends, go get a slushee, go get a Mountain Dew," he said. "You know, you don't often get to see people this happy."