This is funding to support the undergraduate Student Design Competition (SDC), which will be part of the 2014 annual RESNA conference to be held June 11-15 in Indianapolis. Today, over 54 million people in the United States report some degree of disability, a number which will likely grow in coming years due to the baby boomer generation. RESNA, the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America, is the one organization with an international focus that is devoted solely to technology for individuals with disabilities. RESNA's membership consists of individuals and institutions covering a range of disciplines (including researchers, clinicians, suppliers, manufacturers, consumers and educators who work in both non-profit and for-profit settings), all of whom are dedicated to promoting the exchange of ideas and information for the advancement of assistive technology. In addition to its annual conference, RESNA conducts a variety of credentialing program for assistive technology practitioners, rehabilitation engineering technologists and suppliers, while the organization's Technical Standards Board is the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ANSI, the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), for the development of ISO standards pertaining to assistive technology and other products for persons with disabilities. More information about RESNA and its annual conference is available online at www.resna.org while information specific to the SDC may be found at http://aac-rerc.psu.edu/wordpressmu/RESNA-SDC and student team entry abstracts are included on the AT Wiki http://atwiki.assistivetech.net/index.php/ATWiki_Home.
The RESNA Student Design Competition fosters innovation and creativity with the ultimate goal of producing technology that can contribute to the independence of individuals with disabilities. The first SDC was held in 1980 as part of the inaugural RESNA conference; since then over 254 designs have been identified as winning entries from among over 788 submitted by students from over 125 different universities and institutes of higher learning. Both undergraduate and master's level graduate candidates are eligible to submit entries, which must represent the work of students only; no faculty or professionals may be included as co-authors, although faculty may be mentioned as advisors and/or mentors. NSF has been a supporter since 2005. This year's funding will enable the SDC to be further expanded and enhanced, so as to include more entries and support for more design teams, especially from minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities. A call for participation has been posted on the conference website, and also distributed electronically to a large number of colleges and universities with engineering and design schools. A team of 5 judges will pre-select up to 8 semi-finalist teams, from which two members each will be invited to attend the conference fully supported with travel and hotel funds as well as complimentary registration (NSF funds will cover the costs associated with 6 of the semi-finalist teams). On Thursday, June 12, during the pre-conference activities these teams will make presentations and show off their working prototypes to the judges before a public audience, and 5 finalist teams will be selected. Judges will have an opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions and recommendations to the design teams. The conference schedule includes a platform session on Sunday, June 15 in which the finalists will present their designs to the general conference audience; in addition, finalists will have an opportunity to present their projects during the Annual Developers' Forum on Friday evening, June 13, which highlights new products under development (some past SDC student team designs have been patented and are now available commercially).
The annual RESNA Conference and the Student Design Competition combine to create a forum for interaction between working and experienced rehabilitation engineers and students who are about to enter the field. Unique in its primary focus on undergraduates, the event provides participants with experience and skills that help them succeed in their engineering and design careers. It encourages and mentors students in various disciplines to become involved in the assistive technology and rehabilitation engineering fields, and provides an opportunity for the students to network with their peers as well as participants in previous SDCs, many of whom are now leaders in service, research, and educational areas related to technology for people with disabilities. Furthermore, continuing a practice started a few years ago, all participants (not just the finalists) will create blog posts that capture and archive their submissions, and these will remain accessible indefinitely through the RESNA website and the AT Wiki. Thus, those who teach will be able to share this information with their students as examples of projects that others have done, while service providers and people with disabilities will be able to search for unique solutions to barriers they may face.
