Perspectives is the newsletter of the Stanford course,
Perspectives in Assistive Technology.

Happy New Year!

This issue invites you to attend the first class session
and encourages your participation in the course's Assistive Technology Faire.

Course News

Course Statistics - As of today, 44 students have enrolled in the course, 10 vendors plan to participate in the Virtual Assistive Technology Faire, and there many options for student projects including suggestions from five community members.

First class session of the 15th season - Tuesday, January 12th at 4:30pm PST via Zoom

Abstract: This presentation will begin with an overview of the course including its objectives, credentials, structure, candidate projects, guest lectures, grading, and expected student experience. A brief introduction to Assistive Technology follows, touching on definitions, demographics, rehabilitation goals, perceptions, challenges, social correctness, and numerous examples of commercial products, research efforts, and past student 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.

Prior to coming to Stanford, Dave was 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 powered wheelchair interface for individuals with quadriplegia, an electro-mechanical fingerspelling hand that served as a communication device for people who are deaf/blind, a system that explored virtual reality techniques to train individuals with gait deficits to improve their walking, and a project that employed a computer-based simulation system 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 contributes to other Stanford courses including defining the quarterly course projects in ME218: Smart Product Design and ME310: Engineering Design Entrepreneurship and Innovation as well as mentoring students working on assistive technology projects throughout the year.

Assistive Technology Faire

You are invited to participate in the Virtual Assistive Technology Faire - This ninth annual course event is scheduled for Thursday, February 25th and will provide an opportunity for students and community members to get an up-close look at a variety of assistive technology devices and learn about available services. Users of assistive technology products as well as small companies and agencies serving individuals with disabilities and older adults are encouraged to join in on this virtual event. Please browse to the Call for Assistive Technology Faire Participants webpage for more information and contact me to register. Each vendor will have 5 to 10 minutes of unopposed Zoom time to display, demonstrate, and discuss their assistive technology products or services. Everyone is welcome to attend the Faire. Ten vendors have signed up to participate so far. Here is the line up and slides from last year's Faire.

Other

Email questions, comments, or suggestions - Please email me if you have general questions, comments, corncerns, or suggestions regarding the course. Thank you again for your interest.

Dave