Thursday, January 21st
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Design Challenges in
Assistive Technology
Douglas F.
Schwandt, MS
Mechanical Engineer |
Abstract: Doug will describe several
examples of rehabilitation engineering projects he has worked on - giving some
personal insight into the design process, relating his experiences, and passing
along some helpful guiding advice he has received or learned over the
years.
Biosketch: Doug Schwandt began his
career in Rehabilitation Engineering with a Stanford ME210 (now ME310) student
team design project creating the Handbike, the first arm-powered, two-wheeled
bicycle for individuals with lower-limb disabilities. After graduation, he
continued development of the Handbike as well as designing various other
devices in the Design Development group at the Palo Alto VA Rehab R&D
Center, including finger-spelling hands, hyper/hypo gravity devices and
specialty cycle ergometers. Over the years, Doug has also consulted on exciting
and challenging projects outside of the VA, including exercise concepts for
long-term space travel, MRI compatible fixtures and mobility devices, and
robots for physical therapy. No longer a VA employee, Doug continues to work
with universities and companies as a free-lance consulting design engineer, and
part-time as a springboard diving coach. His recent consulting projects include
participating in the design of the
prosthetic haptic interface
system for the DARPA bionic arm
and contributing to the development of a new model of the G-Trainer, by
Alter-G.
- Contact information:
- Doug Schwandt
- doug.schwandt -at- gmail.com
- 650/464-3578
- Lecture Material:
- Slides - Kb pdf file
- Audio - Mb mp3 file
- Links:
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Accessible
Recreation
Owen R. Edwards,
MEng
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Abstract:
Biosketch: Owen Edwards has seven
years' experience teaching snowboarding and whitewater rafting, specializing in
working with people with disabilities. At Challenge Aspen, he helped develop a
national curriculum for adaptive snowboard instruction and worked on the
industry-wide examinations for instructors at the beginner and intermediate
levels for the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (AASI). He has
been Operations Manager and Guide Trainer for Environmental Traveling
Companion's rafting program, running one-day and expedition trips on rivers
across California for people with disabilities including blind and
visually-impaired participants, and people with traumatic brain injury, spinal
cord injury, and cerebral palsy. Owen has a Master's degree in Electronic
Engineering, and worked for ten years as a design engineer and project manager
on embedded software, DSP firmware, and semiconductor devices for telecoms and
consumer electronics products before moving into the field of accessible
recreation.
- Contact information:
- Owen R. Edwards, MEng
- owen.r.edwards -at- gmail.com
- Lecture Material:
- Slides - Kb pdf file
- Audio - Mb mp3 file
- Links:
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