Heading to the New York Metro Abilities International Accessibility Conference? Don’t miss RESNA’s Student Scientific Paper Platform, a one‑hour, moderated session where leading researchers share real‑world findings with a clear focus on how practitioners can apply them immediately in daily practice. Attend this session and earn 0.1 IACET CEU. 

Check out RESNA’s Student Scientific Paper Posters, showcased all day during the conference. This format brings together cutting‑edge research, real‑world practice insights, and emerging policy developments that shape assistive technology and rehabilitation engineering. It offers an inviting space to dive deep into new findings, ask presenters your questions, and connect research to clinical practice, commercial innovation, and policy impact. 

Student Scientific Paper Platform

Date: Friday, May 1st

Time: 10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. EST

Room: Main Ballroom

Abstract:

Across multiple domains of assistive technology (AT), individuals with disabilities, caregivers, and service providers continue to face persistent challenges related to accessibility of the built environment, physical demands of caregiving, and access to affordable assistive devices. This session presents findings from three studies addressing automated accessibility assessment, caregiver safety during assisted transfers, and low‑cost hand orthosis development. Together, the studies demonstrate scalable, user‑centered approaches that bridge environmental fit, human capacity, and technological feasibility. Key findings include:

• An AI‑powered, hardware‑agnostic washroom accessibility auditing system demonstrated that metrically accurate assessments can be achieved using standard smartphone video and a single fiducial marker.

• A caregiver intervention study using the Caregiver Assisted Transfer Technique (CATT) showed that brief, targeted transfer training reduced erector spinae muscle activity and transfer time during assisted lifts. These findings suggest that structured education can meaningfully reduce caregiver low‑back loading and injury risk during activities of daily living.

• Development of a low‑cost, motorized hand orthosis for grasp assistance demonstrated the feasibility of lightweight, underactuated designs that support functional grasping for individuals with neurological conditions.

Collectively, these findings underscore the importance of addressing environmental accessibility, caregiver biomechanics, and assistive device affordability.

Learning Outcomes:

1. By the end of this session, participants will be able to identify and compare scalable assistive technology strategies and describe how each mitigates specific safety or accessibility barriers in activities of daily living.
2. By the end of this session, participants will be able to apply principles of user‑centered and low‑burden design to evaluate how environmental modifications, caregiver education, and assistive devices can be integrated.

AI-Powered Accessibility Auditing For Washrooms

Presenters: Jennifer Shi; Anna Liu; Tiffany Trinh

Impact of biomechanics-focused interventions on caregiver low back muscles during assisted transfers

Presenter: Jake Justeson

 Development of a low-cost, lightweight, compact mechatronic hand orthosis for grasping assistance

Presenter: Juliette Boucher Grenon

Student Scientific Paper Posters

Date: Thursday, April 30th - Friday, May 1st

Time: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. EST

Room: Promenade outside the Main Ballroom

AI-Powered Accessibility Auditing For Washrooms

Presenters: Jennifer Shi; Anna Liu; Tiffany Trinh

Impact of biomechanics-focused interventions on caregiver low back muscles during assisted transfers

Presenter: Jake Justeson

 Development of a low-cost, lightweight, compact mechatronic hand orthosis for grasping assistance

Presenter: Juliette Boucher Grenon

Integrating Wearable Sleep Monitoring with Repeated Balance and Cognitive Testing: A Six-Week Feasibility Study Among Older Adults

Presenters: Yuan Li; Hongwu Wang, PhD

Development of an Enhanced Stair Chair with Adaptive Mechanisms for Urban Paramedic Use

Presenter: Méliane Blanchette

Development of a Portable System for Real-Time Monitoring of Shoulder Muscle Demand in Workers

Presenter: Marianne Boyer

The low-cost Assistive Robotic Arm for Individuals with Upper Body Disabilities SIARA 2: Actuator design and validation

Presenter: Ismaël Breton

Preliminary Usability of the PPAL, a Height-Adjustable Bedside Commode with Integrated Transfer Boards

Presenter: Jessica Wong

A Longitudinal Pilot Study of Pain and Shoulder Pathology in Manual Wheelchair Users Across the Lifespan

Presenter: Anthony Nguyen

If you are registering to attend the New York Metro conference, please use the discount code RESNAMEMBER.

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