|
Stanford
Students Awarded First Prize in Design Competition
Stanford Product
Design students Kanhika Jaywant Nikam and So Yeon Jenni Park were
awarded first prize for their project submission to the
Student
Design Competition at the recent
RESNA
Conference in Denver, CO.
Their project,
Rhombus
Rumbles, is a therapy game for children with hearing impairments. It
employs a lip-reading technique, often used by speech therapists, as a learning
tool to create a fun linguistic game. The game can be played by therapists,
parents, or the children themselves to accelerate the process of learning
language.
Kanhika and Jenni
pursued the project in Stanford's Winter Quarter course, Perspectives in
Assistive Technology. Instead of working on two individual projects, they
decided to team up to address a hearing and learning problem that affects 2 to
3 of every 1000 children in the US.
For over 30
years, RESNA's Student Design Competition 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. Entries are
judged on originality, quality of design, and usefulness to persons with
disabilities. Winners have frequently moved on to become leaders in the field
of assistive technology.
RESNA, the Rehabilitation Engineering
and Assistive Technology Society of North America, is the premier professional
organization dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of people with
disabilities through increasing access to technology solutions. RESNA advances
the field by offering certification, continuing education, and professional
development; developing assistive technology standards; promoting research and
public policy; and sponsoring forums for the exchange of information and ideas
to meet the needs of our multidisciplinary constituency.
Note: As this
wasn't considered a traditional team project, it wasn't presented in
class. |
