Date: Friday, June 15, 2012
Category: Conference News
RESNA, the Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America, is announcing the 2012 RESNA Student Design Competition (SDC) semi-finalist teams, who will progress to an advanced round of judging at the RESNA 2012 Conference in Baltimore, MD, June 28-July 3, 2012.
This year, 35 projects from around the world were submitted from 23 universities. Entries were judged on originality, quality of design, and usefulness to persons with disabilities to reach the following ten semi-finalist teams:
- Adjustable Mechanism for the Transfer to an Adaptive Cycle (AMTAC) – Jayne Gavrity, Cassandra Gorman, Simon Kim, Caitlin O’Connell, University of Rochester
- AlphaBraille – Seong-Hee Yoon, Lina Carballo, Quetrell Howard, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
- Facilitating the Occupation of Taking Medication (MEDEASE) – Prina Cohen, Ana Talag, Sorin Uta, University of Toronto
- Guardian Angel/cane and able – Jane Hankins, Jennifer Black, Jeannine Blankinship, Raven Vilardo, Julieth Leon, Jessica Lopez, Brisi Favela, Tammy Thomsen, Roxanne Sharkey, Jeff Westendorf, California Lutheran University
- Kayak Transporter – Cheng-Yen Chen, William Chyan, Zhiwei Tay, Jarey Wang, Duke University
- Mono-Mano Cycling Control System – Travis Block, David Narrow, Dominick Marino, Sara Hutchinson, Martin Szeto, University of Rochester
- Semi-Automatic Feeding Device for Wheelchair Users – Salma Mahmoud, Sidra Khan, Jane Kambugu, Kamran Mohammadi, Farideh Madani, George Mason University
- Side-by-Side Skill Trainer, Enhanced Video Training – Ruslan Popovych, Marc Carroll, Jay Park, Abe Wu, Georgia Institute of Technology
- SPADE (Seed Planting Assistive Devices Entourage) – Linda Ye, Jennifer Chien, Bill Lee, David Yudovich, Duke University
- The Smart Pill Box – Brianna Abbey, Anahita Alipour, Christopher Camp, Crystal Hofer, University of Alberta
Duke University students submitted six projects, the most from any university; other universities submitting multiple entries include the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Arkansas, Washington University in St. Louis, Louisiana Tech University, Missouri University of Science of Technology, University of Rochester, and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad, India. All entries are showcased on the SDC website, and those interested may review the designs and submit comments and observations for the student designers.
Each semi-finalist team receives an all-expense paid trip for two team members to present their projects at the RESNA 2012 Conference in Baltimore. Up to five finalists are announced at the conference. One finalist will receive an award for “Technology Most Likely to Become Commercially Available,” sponsored by the Center for the Translation of Rehabilitation Engineering Advances and Technology (TREAT). The award comes with a $500 cash prize to the winning team and an invitation for one team member to spend 3 weeks at the TREAT facilities further developing the design.
For over 30 years, the RESNA Student Design Competition (SDC) has showcased creative and innovative assistive technology designs that help people with disabilities function more independently. Student teams represent a wide variety of disciplines including mechanical, electrical and biomedical engineering; computer information science; architecture; and physical and occupational therapy. SDC winners have frequently moved on to become leaders in the field of assistive technology. The competition is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and TREAT. For more information, visit www.resna.org.
Click here for more information about RESNA's Student Design Competition.