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Thursday, February
3rd
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Accessible Making:
Designing Makerspaces for Accessibility
Katherine M. Steele, PhD, MS
Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering - University of Washington |
Abstract: The purpose of
makerspaces is to increase access to “making” among the general
community. Because of this social justice orientation, it is important to
consider how welcoming and accessible makerspaces are to individuals with
diverse abilities, including individuals with disabilities. This presentation
examines a three-step process used to make a university-based makerspace more
accessible and welcoming to individuals with disabilities including a tour,
design activity, and brainstorming session. The process helps identify simple
changes that were made to the makerspace, as well as increasing student,
faculty, and community access. Using a similar process, other makerspaces could
improve the accessibility of their spaces, procedures, and tools.
Biosketch: Kat Steele is
the Albert S. Kobayashi Endowed Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the
University of Washington. She leads the Ability & Innovation Lab, which
integrates dynamic musculoskeletal simulation, motion analysis, medical
imaging, and device design to understand and support human mobility. She earned
her BS in engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and her MS and PhD in
mechanical engineering from Stanford University. To integrate engineering and
medicine, she has worked in multiple hospitals, including the Denver
Children’s Hospital, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, and the
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. For her research and innovations, she has
been awarded an Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Engineering Career Development
Award from NIH, the NSF CAREER (Early Faculty Development) Award, and the
American Society of Biomechanics Young Scientist Award. In 2020, she co-founded
CREATE,
the Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences,
with partners from industry and academia in engineering, rehabilitation
medicine, disability studies, and information sciences, supported by an
inaugural $2.5 million investment from Microsoft. She serves as the associate
director of the center. Dr. Steele is also the co-founder of Access
Engineering, an NSF-supported program that supports individuals with
disabilities pursuing careers in engineering and trains all engineers in
principles of both universal and ability-based design to create more inclusive
products, environments, and experiences.
- Contact
Information:
- University of Washington
- Mechanical Engineering
- kmsteele@uw.edu
- Lecture Material:
- Slides
- Post-lecture slides - 2.03 Mb pdf file
- Links:
- Ability & Innovation Lab
- Reimagining
Mobility
- Reimagining Mobility:
CREATE Conversation Hub
- Accessible Making: Designing
Makerspaces for Accessibility
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