Date: Thursday, February 20, 2014
Category: Conference News
Building on the conference theme “Racing Towards Excellence in AT,” the plenary speakers at the annual RESNA conference all share a focus on the future of assistive technology.
Former Indy 500 racecar driver, AT user and philanthropist Sam Schmidt will open the conference on Friday, June 13th. Mr. Schmidt is an entrepreneur, speaker, and founding owner of Sam Schmidt Motorsports and the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation. A terrible racecar driving crash on June 6, 2000, resulted in him becoming a person with quadriplegia. He continues to pursue his passion for the sport through his company, which has become the most successful racecar team in the history of the Firestone Indy Light Series, winning seven series championships. Through his foundation, Mr. Schmidt is spearheading a major research project to spark collaboration on an international level among researchers from various scientific fields to find cures and treatments for paralysis.
Dr. Gregor Wolbring is an internationally known scholar and researcher in the areas of ability and ableism ethics and governance, based at the University of Calgary. (Ableism is a form of discrimination or prejudice against persons with disabilities; broadly, ableists believe that the able-bodied are the norm in society, and that people with disabilities should strive to become that norm.) Dr. Wolbring is particularly interested in the variety of issues surrounding new and emerging technologies and how those affect people with disabilities. He appears in the new documentary “Fixed: The Science/Fiction of Human Enhancement,” which is winning awards on the film festival circuit. Dr. Wolbring will be the plenary speaker on Saturday morning, June 14th. The film will screen at the conference that evening, followed by a question and answer session with Dr. Wolbring.
Dr. Cole Galloway, a leading researcher in pediatric mobility through his “Go, Baby, Go” project at the University of Delaware, is the plenary speaker on Sunday, June 15th. Dr. Galloway has been instrumental in changing people’s minds about the appropriate age for children to begin using power wheelchairs, arguing that toddlers can safely and reasonably use power mobility. His groundbreaking research shows that independent mobility and pediatric development are closely linked, and he is the co-inventor of the UD1, a kid-sized robot that provides mobility to children with special needs.
Covering almost every area of assistive technology solutions for people with disabilities, the annual RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America) conference will take place June 13 -15 at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, IN. Prior to the start of the conference, there will be two days of instructional courses (June 11 and 12), including the popular “Fundamentals in Assistive Technology,” an introductory course for those just entering the field or for professionals who wish to broaden their knowledge base. The conference also includes a large exhibit hall, a Developer’s Forum, student design and scientific paper competitions, research platform and poster presentations, and several social events.
Sponsors are NMEDA (National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association), Quantum Rehab, Prairie Seating Corporation, and the Center for the Translation of Rehabilitation Engineering Advances and Technologies (TREAT). Conference attendees include rehabilitation engineers, assistive technology specialists, occupational and physical therapists, suppliers, manufacturers, vocational rehabilitation professionals, educators, researchers, state assistive technology program directors, consumers and students.
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