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!

Brianna Goodwin Presents at Seattle Children’s Grand Rounds

Keshia Abstract, Presentation, Publications , , ,

Brianna Goodwin, a Master’s student in our lab, presented her collaborative Brianna Goodwin is pictured behind a podium, standing in front of her slideshow during her presentation.abstract on monitoring Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT), a therapy for children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP), at the Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH) Grand Rounds this past week. The Grand Rounds are a time to present research, new ideas, and translational science to medical personnel of varied background.

To read Brianna’s abstract in full, download her PDF here: SCH Grand Rounds, CIMT abstract

 

Congratulations, Ben! Ben Shuman Passes His Ph.D. General Exam

Keshia Exams, News

Congratulations to Benjamin Shuman for passing his general exam! He is now officially a Ph.D. Candidate.

Ben’s Ph.D. committee agreed his scientific work to date and proposed final gait modeling project will culminate in the award of his Ph.D. in one year’s time.

To celebrate, a fellow lab member created a humorous photo with Ben’s face pasted into a movie still-frame. Congratulations again, Ben!

Jessica Zistatsis Successfully Defends Her Master’s Thesis

Keshia Exams, Graduation, News , ,

Jessica Zistatsis has successfully defended her Master’s Thesis here at the University of Washington, in Dr. Steele’s Ability & Innovation Lab.

To complete her Master’s in full, Jessica will be submitting and disseminating her thesis, A Passive Pediatric Exoskeleton to Improve the Walking Ability of Children with Neuromuscular Disorders.

To begin watching Jessica’s defense, you may view Part 1 on YouTube HERE, or directly below:


A silly congratulations graphic made by the lab depicting the fictional Godzilla stomping through downtown Seattle, while wearing PlayGait, the pediatric exoskeleton Jessica worked on for her masters. Test within the photo reads, "Congrats on destroying your defense, Jessica!"Our lab could not be more proud! To help celebrate her successful defense, the lab drafted a flyer depicting an empowered Godzilla wearing PlayGait, Jessica’s pediatric exoskeleton. Here’s hoping future children will use their newfound superpowers for good, unlike our friend in this picture!