Assistive Technology (AT) is the lens through which invention, entrepreneurship, and applied design are taught at the Hampshire College Lemelson Center. The center collaborates with individuals with disabilities, businesses, and nonprofit organizations to give students experience designing, fabricating, and testing assistive technology products for people locally and abroad. There are grants and internships available to students, faculty, and staff to experience research in the field, and experiential project-based courses are taught each semester with a focus on assistive technology. Please take a moment to review relevant terms, samples of student projects, events, and funding available.

Assistive technology is a generic term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices and the process used in selecting, locating, and using them. AT promotes greater independence for people with disabilities by enabling them to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to or changed methods of interacting with the technology needed to accomplish such tasks. According to disability advocates, technology is often created without regard to people with disabilities, creating unnecessary barriers to hundreds of millions of people.

Universal Design is a relatively new paradigm that emerged from "barrier-free" or "accessible design" and "assistive technology." Barrier-free design and assistive technology provide a level of accessibility for people with disabilities, but they also often result in separate and stigmatizing solutions; for example, a ramp that leads to a different entry to a building than a main stairway. Universal design strives to be a broad-spectrum solution that helps everyone, not just people with disabilities. Moreover, it recognizes the importance of how things look. For example, while built-up handles are a way to make utensils more usable for people with gripping limitations, some companies introduced larger, easy-to-grip, and attractive handles as feature of mass-produced utensils. They appeal to a wide range of consumers.

Student Projects
•    Upbeat
•    Robotic Digital Camera
•    Retrofitable Rowing Wheelchair
•    Learning Template
•    Accessible Snowboard
•    Beanie Bottom
•    Seg Stable
•    Armsnug
•    Communication Vest
•    Gemini Tandem
•    Assistance Dog Gear
•    Ernest Project

EVENTS

Hampshire College Assistive Technology Forum

For eight years the Lemelson Center hosted a one-day forum in assistive technology that brought together a diverse group of equipment designers, industry experts, people with disabilities, engineers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, students, and educators to encourage discussion of needs and transfer of information and ideas.

The eighth annual forum, Assistive Technology, Disability, and Family, took place May 5, 2006.

The conference keynote speaker was Judi Rogers, a disabled mother, activist, equipment designer, author, and parenting specialist at Through the Looking Glass, a national resource center for families living with disabilities.

The day also featured hands-on workshops, networking, roundtable discussions, and a student invention showcase.

The seventh annual forum, Assistive Technology, Disability, and ADVENTURE, convened May 6, 2005.

The event drew approximately 250 participants throughout the day, to take in the keynote speaker and Olympic panel of athletes; to talk with student project presenters at the Student Invention Showcase; to engage in professional networking; and to participate in a range of afternoon hands-on workshops.

The key themes that guided the day included ways in which adaptive equipment creates access to new environments, the influence of sport and society on one another, how communities can strive to create inclusive recreation, how sport can be a tool for social change, and how athletes who push limits become revolutionaries.

The sixth annual forum, Assistive Technology, Disability, and the ARTS, took place May 7, 2004.

Participants gathered for a day of exploration in performing arts, fine arts, popular culture, and expression through the context of disability and assistive technology.

The fifth annual forum, Developing Solutions, Developing Nations, convened May 2, 2003.

Topics of discussion included the growing need for assistive technology worldwide, current initiatives to address those needs, harnessing creativity to improve human living conditions, and how to get involved in locally-based efforts with global impact.

Face of America 2002 ##

Over fourteen hundred bicyclists and hand cyclists gathered at ground zero in New York City where they began a three-day, two-night, 280-mile journey that concluded at the Pentagon on September 22. The event brought together disabled and able-bodied participants from around the #world to honor the lives of those killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Hampshire College Lemelson Center supported alumnus Artemis Joukowsky with a vehicle and mechanical team as he rode his electrically assisted trike. The trike was designed and fabricated at the Lemelson Center by then-student Josh Kerson.  

The ride was an athletic challenge affirming the belief that the sheer internal will of the human person is what allows us to accomplish nearly impossible goals despite our differences. It was by far the most diverse team WTS has ever assembled, including athletes from 12 countries, Israeli and Palestinian athletes among them. It was the largest contingency of hand cyclists ever assembled for a single sporting event.

Articles about the Face of America 2002 Ride


United Nations Photo Exhibit “Raising the Bar”

A photographic exhibition entitled “Raising the Bar: New Horizons in Disability Sports” opened in the North-East Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby on March 23, 2005. The exhibit, based on the book by Artemis Joukowsky, was an intimate, visually rich portrayal of the international para-athletic community, featuring the work of ten international photographers and 30 international athletes. It remained open to the public through April 27, 2005.

Also on display was an electric trike, tandem tricycle, snowboard. and sit-ski, representing innovative projects undertaken by students at Hampshire’s Lemelson Center to address the needs of people with disabilities in the pursuit of sports and recreation.

This exhibition was presented in support of the process towards a United Nations Convention on the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.

Please visit No Limits Media for more information about the book and the event.

AWARDS

Lemelson Guild
The Lemelson Guild awards enable Lemelson alumni with businesses continued entrepreneurial mentoring, limited fabrication access, access to apprentices, and financial support generally aimed toward increased production. To enable the Lemelson Center to maintain and strengthen ties with alumni, allow students opportunities to apprentice with alumni guild members, continue to support and foster growth in alumni start-up businesses, and connect alumni with one another.

Lemelson Assistive Technology Development Grants
The Lemelson Assistive Technology Development Grants are offered to foster innovative thinking in the areas of assistive technology and universal design, while developing new assistive technology and universal design equipment for people with physical, mental, or age-related disabilities.