Welcome to this edition of  Perspectives,  the e-newsletter of the Stanford course Perspectives in Assistive Technology.

What is the course? - Perspectives in Assistive Technology is a Winter Quarter course at Stanford that explores issues surrounding the design, development, and use of assistive technology for people with disabilities and seniors. More information can be found on the course website.

Invitation to attend - You are invited to attend all class lectures. They will be held in the Main Quad, Building 370, Classroom 370 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 4:15 to 5:30pm and are free and open to the public.

First class session - Tuesday, January 4th at 4:15pm:

Abstract: This presentation will provide an overview of the course and a brief introduction to Assistive Technology including a definition of terms, demographics, goals of rehabilitation, perceptions of disability, the needs of people experiencing disabilities, political correctness, and numerous examples of assistive technology devices and cutting-edge research projects.

Biosketch: David L. Jaffe holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a MS degree in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University.

He worked as a Research Biomedical Engineer at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System's Rehabilitation Research and Development Center. At the VA his interests were designing, developing, testing, and bringing to market microcomputer-based devices for veterans with disabilities including communication, mobility, and information systems. He has worked on several VA assistive technology research projects including an innovative wheelchair interface for individuals with quadriplegia, an electro-mechanical fingerspelling hand that serves as a communication device for people who are deaf/blind, a system that explores virtual reality techniques to train individuals with gait deficits to improve their walking, and a project that employs a computer-based simulation to assess and improve the driving ability of individuals after brain injury.

In addition to organizing this course, ENGR110/210 Perspectives in Assistive Technology, he currently contributes to the definition of quarterly course projects in ME218 Smart Product Design, is a project coach in ME113 Mechanical Engineering Design, and mentors students working on assistive technology projects.

Do you have a question or comment? - David L. Jaffe, MS, the course organizer, can be reached by email or at 650/892-4464.