Stephen Reuter, an 18-year-old freshman general engineering student at Illinois State University, may be at the starting line of his training, but he understands more than most people the meaning of the old adage: “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

At age 7, Reuter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. He grew up a big Lego guy and still has a massive collection. By the time he reached Lockport Township High School, he knew that the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) field was what interested him. When high school ended, he was already an award-winning inventor.  

“My interest in engineering really took shape in engineering classes I had in high school with my teacher Jeff Brown,” Reuter said. “I had him for two years for Engineering Design 1 and 2. You could tell that he cared a lot, especially if you were a student who put in the effort.”

Brown was a big motivator for Reuter and got him involved in engineering-related activities. A pivotal moment came when he convinced his student to join SkillsUSA, a career and technical student organization that uses training programs to help build future leaders in trade, technical, and skilled jobs.

“SkillsUSA is where it started,” Reuter said. “You have to come up with a product idea, do the sketches, testing, presenting, and document all of it in an engineering notebook. It’s competition-based, with the state competition in April and then nationals in June. Jeff Brown thought I would do great in this.”

His senior year, Reuter was part of a team of three that advanced from state in April in Peoria to the SkillsUSA National Conference in Atlanta in June. There were more than 18,000 students from around the country competing in a variety of categories. Reuter and his teammates, all from Lockport, took home gold medals in the Engineering Technology Design category.

“We won nationals with our invention called the Quick-cap,” he said. “It’s an alternative cap design for glucose tablet tubes that allows for easy opening during low blood sugar events.

“When you have Type 1 diabetes, low blood sugar is treated with glucose tablet tubes, which you open by applying pressure on the side of the cap to force it open. It’s not normally difficult, but physical weakness and shaky hands are the most common symptoms of low blood sugar. The Quick-cap, which has a slider on the cap, makes opening that cap less difficult with the added leverage. I’ve experienced that myself as a Type 1 diabetic.”

Branden Delk, director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Student Success for the College of Engineering at Illinois State, saw Reuter’s potential during the admissions process.

“Stephen is a deep and detailed thinker who takes great care in the projects he takes on,” Delk said. “The moment he showed me what he created to help other diabetics, I knew he was going to represent the College of Engineering and our values of using engineering to change daily life. I’m excited to see his leadership and creative thinking grow in our program.” 

Reuter is a recipient of the Redbird Academic Scholarship. He was interested in being part of the first cohort of a new engineering program at Illinois State.

“I liked that ISU was a new program, and there’d be lots of focus on me and on individuals that you wouldn’t get at much bigger schools,” he said. “I’m really liking it here. It’s easy to get to know people in our class because there are no older students. We’re all in the first engineering class together. We’re it.”

Reuter said being in the inaugural class has also made it easier to connect early with his professors.

“You don’t have to wait until you’re a junior or senior to make those connections,” he said. “I think you feel a sense of community sooner too.”

He’s enjoying his classes and has made an easy adjustment being away from home, he said. He lives on an engineering-themed floor in his residence hall, and his roommate is also part of the first cohort.

“I’ve made a lot of friends on the engineering floor, and the dining hall food is better than I thought it would be, which has been a happy surprise,” he said.

Of his Quick-cap invention, Reuter said he enjoyed the process of fine tuning and testing with the team.

“We put a slider on top of a cap made from a 3D-printed model since we didn’t have access to injection molding lab equipment to make a plastic model,” he said. “That’s what I love about engineering. It’s not always the big machines; sometimes it’s just something simple like putting a slider on a cap.”