Livingston Student Builds Bike That Also Blends Smoothies

LIVINGSTON, NJ — It was an unusual request: build a bike that can blend healthy smoothies while helping riders to exercise at the same time. But Livingston’s Brandon Torres got it done.

Torres, an eighth-grade student at Heritage Middle School, constructed the unusual bicycle for Pony Power Therapies, a nonprofit that gives special needs and at-risk people opportunities to ride, care for and interact with horses.

The nonprofit also promotes activities that enhance peoples’ physical, social and emotional well-being… and that’s where the idea for a smoothie-making bicycle came into play.

As part of an upcoming health fair, Pony Power asked Heritage Middle School students if one of them was up to the challenge of building the unique bike. It was Torres who accepted the challenge, school administrators said. (Read the full story here)

With the aid of his technology education teacher, Ken Zushma, who provided a box of parts, a packet of instructions and a set of tools, Torres set to work on his creation. Over the course of several weeks, Torres assembled a new bike attaching a specially designed mounting system over the rear wheel to turn the blades of the blender and a unique mount to allow the bike to be used while stationary.

Torres, his father and Zushma recently delivered the smoothie-making contraption just in time for Pony Power’s Horse Show and Community Fair on April 29, school administrators said.

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Zushma, a former American Society for Civil Engineers “Educator of the Year,” may be a familiar name to the local school community. He’s been a guiding force behind several charity-focused projects in the district over the years, such as a pair of custom-built “unicorn” wheelchairs and a Ninja Turtle demolition derby car for a six-year-old who suffers from muscular dystrophy.

• See related article: Livingston School Makes Ninja Turtle Halloween Costume For Ailing Child
• See related article: Livingston Teachers Rig 'My Little Pony' Unicorn Wheelchairs For Make-A-Wish Kids
• See related article: Livingston Teacher Helps Female Students To Discover Science

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Photo: Livingston Public Schools