COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - One mother is thankful after a Tennessee Tech University engineering project provided her 4-year-old son, John, with a specially designed, indoor climbing playground.

Tech Engineering for Kids is a course that matches a child with special needs to a team of engineering students in the Dynamics of Machinery course for mechanical engineering.

John, who was recently diagnosed with autism, was matched with the team that worked on his play equipment in the 2024 fall semester.

“It was exciting to do because it allowed us to work as a team and troubleshoot problems together as a team,” said Tech engineering student Kevin Molina. “We learned new skills and made a positive impact on a child and family.”

According to Professor Stephen Canfield, the course taught them the importance of flexibility.

Tennessee Tech said the teammates had to modify their design partway through the project. They said the design was supposed to be portable play equipment, but the plan shifted to a permanent installation at John’s mother, Jessica Kleveno’s, home.

At the end of the semester, the students delivered their project to Kleveno’s home.

“When you’re the parent of a special needs child, you just want them to have what they need, but that’s not easy. There’s been lots of times I’ve felt like an inadequate parent,” she said.