Deborah E. Kenney, MS, OTR/L

kenney5 -at- comcast.net

Deborah Kenney has been an occupational therapist at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System for the last 17 years - working both in the clinic and at the VA Rehabilitation Research & Development (RR&D) Center where she has collaborated on numerous design and research projects with the engineers and graduate students. Her work has included testing and integrating technology into the rehabilitation setting in the areas of Parkinson's Disease, CVA (stroke), Spinal Cord Injury, hand therapy, and balance as related to aging. Ms. Kenney currently splits her time between her clinical work with post-stroke survivors (REACH) and the RR&D Center. She is also a frequent guest lecturer with the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Santa Clara.

Douglas F. Schwandt, MS

650/464-3578

doug.schwandt -at- gmail.com

Doug Schwandt began his career in Rehabilitation Engineering with a Stanford ME210 (now ME310) design project, on a student team creating the Handbike, the first arm-powered two-wheeled bicycle for lower-limb disabled. After graduation, he continued the Handbike development, and went on to design various other devices for the disabled with the Design Development team 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 various 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 as a consultant to universities and companies as a free-lance consulting design engineer, and part-time as a springboard diving coach.

Kyle A. Smith, MPT, ATC

408/264-1563

kyleasmith -at- hotmail.com

Mr. Smith is the founder of ORion Physical Therapy that specializes in the rehabilitation of patients with orthopedic and neurological dysfunctions. He has been a Physical Therapist for 8 years and an Athletic Trainer for 11 years. Outside of his practice he volunteers with organizations that provide athletic opportunities for those with disabilities, such as the National Sports Center for the Disabled, Special Olympics, and the Paralympic Games. His volunteer efforts include presenting stroke awareness and education lectures for the Peninsula Stroke Association.

Jaime Vargas

650/366-1192

vargas -at- stanfordalumni.org

While working at the VA Palo Alto Rehabilitation Research and Development Center, Jaime designed the SkillSet and Whiz devices.

Lauri Kanerva

650/723-2480

lauri.kanerva - at- stanford.edu

Lauri is the Nonmedical Human Subjects Panel Manager. He is a good resource to answer questions on whether projects "need" to be submitted to the IRB and welcomes inquiries.

James H. Anderson, JEM

Jim is a retired expert model maker. He may be willing to help with mechanical fabrication elements of student projects.

Updated 04/22/2008

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