News

Steele Lab Presents at the Northwest Biomechanics Symposium (NWBS)

Keshia News

The Steele Lab had a great time presenting their research at the Northwest Biomechanics Symposium on May 4-5th, 2018 in Bellingham, WA. Ben Shuman, Brianna Goodwin, Claire Mitchell, and Keshia Peters all gave podium presentations during the conference, and Madelyn Lew, Leif Wesche, Alyssa Spomer, Michael Rosenberg, and Karley Benoff gave poster presentations.

A big congratulations to Alyssa Spomer and Karley Benoff for being awarded best graduate and undergraduate student posters, respectively, for the entire conference.

The Northwest Biomechanics Symposium is a student-friendly conference and incorporates research labs from all of the Northwest, including Canada. Irene Davis, a professor at the Harvard Medical School and Director of the Spaulding National Running Center, provided a great Keynote address to the conference attendees.

Nataliya, Ben, Keshia, Brianna, and Heather all pose arm in arm near a Western Washington University campus sculpture during the walk to the Symposium dinner. Leif, Madelyn, Ben, Claire, Karley, Alyssa, Brianna, Heather, Michael, and Keshia all pose in front of a Bellingham Bay sunset after dinner and trivia during the Northwest Biomechanics Symposium at Western Washington University. Michael Rosenberg, wearing a blue dress shirt and slacks, points towards a method figure on his poster while sharing about his research at the Northwest Biomechanics Symposium. Three community members look on and learn from Michael and his research poster. Claire Mitchell presents her research via a podium presentation. A slide is up on the projected screen describing muscle synergies and how they are processed. Brianna, Alyssa, Claire, and Heather sit in the auditorium seating during a brief break in podium presentations during the Northwest Biomechanics Symposium in Bellingham, WA Madelyn, Karley, Leif, and Ben smile while they sit in the auditorium seating during a brief break in podium presentations during the Northwest Biomechanics Symposium in Bellingham, WA Karley Benoff stands in front of her poster on upper-extremity orthoses in a white blouse and black slacks. She helps two graduate students from Simon Fraser University try on her orthotic device while explaining the device's mechanics and intended uses. Alyssa Spomer stands facing her poster and wears a teal blouse and black skirt. She gestures toward her experimental setup figure within her poster's method section while explaining her research to an onlooking member of the scientific community.

Claire Mitchell, Karley Benoff, and Makoto Eyre present at the Mary Gates Research Symposium

Keshia Media, MotorControl, News, Orthoses, Presentation, Projects, Publications , ,

On May 18th, Claire Mitchell, Karley Benoff, and Makoto Eyre presented their research at the Mary Gates Undergraduate Research Symposium. These three students worked on year-long projects and showcased their hard work during a campus-wide poster session.

Claire’s research focused on creating a website and server framework for clinicians and researchers across the country to use for calculating muscle synergies for motor control analysis. Muscle synergies are an incredibly complex and computationally expensive analysis of electromyography data but provide quantification of motor control and assist in therapy prescription for movement disorders.

Claire Mitchell, and undergraduate student in the Steele Lab, stands in front of her poster at Mary Gates Hall during the undergraduate research symposium. Claire is wearing a white and blue floral blouse. She is in the middle of describing her research project to four community members who have taken an interest in her research.

Makoto Eyre and Karley Benoff stand nearly back to back in front of their poster at Mary Gates Hall during the undergraduate research symposium. Makoto is facing to the left of the poster, and is wearing glasses, a white button up shirt and black slacks while conversing with members of the community outside of the images capture. Karley Benoff has shoulder length brown and blonde hair and is wearing a pink blouse while helping to fit a member of the community with her 3D-printed device at the elbow. Karley and the female community member are making sure the device's elbow joint is aligning well with the community member's elbow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karley and Mako’s research focused on designing and testing a 3D-printed elbow-driven orthosis for individuals with limited hand function. They drew inspiration from upper-extremity prosthetic devices and evaluated a voluntary close and voluntary open mechanism to assist an individual’s dominant limb.

Great work Karley, Mako, and Claire!

The interior courtyard of Mary Gates Hall has interior windows and a combination of new and old architectural elements. This is the location where hundreds of undergraduate presenters and community members discuss research accomplishments and next steps.

Go-Baby-Go project is named an awardee for the Mobility Unlimited Challenge Discovery Award!

Keshia Awards, Media, News

Toyota Mobility is sponsoring ten teams who aim to break into the assistive technology market with $50,000 of seed funding.

The Mobility Unlimited Challenge attracted nearly 100 applications worldwide, and we are proud to announce our joint team was selected!

Our team here at the University of Washington, together with Oregon State University, submitted a joint application. Highlights are included below. To learn more about Toyota’s Challenge or the other nine fellow awardees, click here.

TITLE: Enabling Independent Mobility and Social Play for Young Children with Mobility Impairments

CHALLENGE: There is a demonstrated lack of commercially-available pediatric mobility devices that promote early mobility and socialization in 1-3 year-old children with mobility impairments. The team proposes an intelligent powered mobility device that enables independent mobility and encourages social interaction and play among young children of different abilities. The device will employ artificial intelligence to ensure safety, while satisfying four key requirements of being (1) low-cost, (2) durable, (3) adaptable/customizable, and (4) aesthetically and functionally desirable by children with all abilities.

Karley Benoff named in the Husky 100!

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We are honored to have a 2018 Husky 100 member in our lab! The Husky 100 recognizes 100 UW undergraduate and graduate students from Bothell, Seattle, and Tacoma in all areas of study who are making the most of their time at the UW. Read an excerpt of Karley’s application packet below to learn more about her involvement with HuskyADAPT, her research with orthotic design, outreach, and her studies. Congratulations, Karley!

Students lead toy hack at Expanding Your Horizons Conference

Keshia HuskyADAPT, News, Outreach, Projects

Expanding Your Horizons (EYH website) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing gateway opportunities for female middle and high school students to become more involved in STEM activities and careers. Two of our Steele Lab teams participated. Michael Rosenberg and Momona Yamagami created a remote control car you can control using muscle activity, and engaged in hands-on learning with the young women. Members of the University of Washington’s HuskyADAPT (Accessible Design & Play Technology) team, including lab members Brianna Goodwin, Brandon Nguyen, and Karley Benoff, led a workshop yesterday on accessible design and adaptation of toys for children with varying abilities.

A total of 12 toys were adapted to incorporate a new switch mechanism to facilitate play, and 26 high school women learned about toy adaptation, soldering, and circuitry. Thank you to our HuskyADAPT team and our lab members for their dedication to outreach events!