Engineers create new avenues for independence

Assistive robots, voice control, sensory substitution, automatic locks, lights, climate control and superior handling sound like features that come standard on any sport-utility vehicle. But thanks to UW-CREATe, an innovative new research team based in the College of Engineering, wheelchairs and other assistive devices may soon have them, too.

Composed of eight faculty and staff members from mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering and rehabilitation medicine, UW-CREATe (Collaboration on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology) is working to assist people with disabilities regain independence, control and productivity.

“This is a very challenging area of research, but there’s a potential to do great things for people,” says Nicola Ferrier, a group member and mechanical engineering assistant professor. And this research couldn’t come at a more critical time: The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research reports that disability ranks among the nation’s biggest public health concerns, encompassing an estimated 52 million Americans.

This statistic makes it easy to understand why the researchers feel strongly about the group’s goals. UW-CREATe is especially important to mechanical engineering professor Jay Martin. His son, Liam, injured in a diving accident two years ago, uses an electric wheelchair.

“While spending three months in the hospital with Liam, he and I studied the technology he would be using and thinking about how it could be improved,” says Martin. “We realized that relatively simple changes resulting from engineering and research applied to these technologies could provide improvements that would greatly enhance the lives of people with disabilities.”

Martin began sharing his thoughts with his peers in mechanical and biomedical engineering departments, and they soon joined forces to focus on the design and development of leading-edge rehabilitative, assistive and adaptive technologies that allow those with disabilities to achieve greater independence.

As this ambitious collaboration effort spreads across campus, examples of UW-CREATe research are beginning to multiply:

• Ferrier is exploring how robots can help individuals with motor disabilities physically interact in the real world.
• Biomedical and mechanical engineering professor Frank Fronczak and Ferrier are collaborating on an orthotic hand, a glove-like device that powers a formerly non-functional hand.
• Mechanical engineering professor Terry Richard’s research in experimental mechanics and measurements is helping him develop design criteria for head-activated control systems used by quadriplegics.
• Rehabilitation and biomedical engineering professor Paul Bach-y-Rita is currently collaborating on projects that involve the brain’s capacity to reorganize and recover from sensory injuries.