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We are delighted to welcome aboard four organisations as resident subject matter experts for the Make Life Accessible Design Challenge.
Don't forget, please feel free to reach out to our Judges and other members with any questions (see @mention names below)!
- Designability, a panel of 5 led by Director, Nigel Harris
- NXP, our chief product sponsor, Mark Houston
- Special Effect's Gaming Technical Specialist, Barrie Ellis
- Ben Heckendorn, host of element14's The Ben Heck Show
Designability is a charity with a passion for creating life-changing assistive technologies, based in the UK, but working with clinicians and leading organisations globally, we are a team of engineering and design experts who conduct original research and develop commercial products that meet the needs of people with a disability or long-term health condition.
At Designability we aim to develop great new products that will enable people with disabilities and health problems to fulfil their full potential. We create great looking, easy-to-use products that go beyond basic functionality. And we partner with industry to help as many people as we can – we’ve transformed over 250,000 lives in the last 48 years.
We advocate better technology for everyone. And believe inclusive design is the only way forward. So we work with end-users, carers and health professionals to help us understand the problem, find a solution and test it in real life situations.
There are many challenges around the home for many people with physical or cognitive disabilities. But there is some great technology out there, which can be developed into smart solutions. We are very pleased to be able to support the
Element 14 Make Life Accessible challenge and are really looking forward to seeing some new and exciting designs!
Professor Nigel Harris nigeldavidharris
Director and Head of Research at Designability, contributing to Medical Engineering and Assistive Technology work programs.
Registered Clinical Scientist, Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine and Honorary Chair at the Department of Health at the University of Bath, UK.
PhD in Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography in Respiratory Medicine. BSc Biophysical Science.
Expertise and interests
- Rehabilitation research (Stroke and Acquired Brain Injury)
- Assisted living technology for people living with Cognitive Impairments
- Physiological measurement and ambulatory monitoring
- Technology transfer and innovation tools
Dr Tim Adlam fi_designability
Head of Mechanical Engineering, Designability
Leads and develops our research in mechanical engineering. As a clinical scientist he also works with the design team on new products under development.
PhD in ‘The design of compliant seating for children with severe whole body extensor spasms’. MSc Biomedical Engineering. CEng Chartered Engineer.
Expertise and interests
- Research grant development and prototyping
- User evaluation and user centred design
- Rehabilitation and biomedical engineering
- Engineering for Cerebral palsy, Dementia, Restricted growth, Dynamic seating, Smart home technology
Praminda Caleb-Solly praminda
Head of Electronics & Computer Systems, Associate Professor of Robotics & Autonomous Systems, Designability
Praminda leads and develops our research in electronics and computing. She is also Associate Professor in Independent Living Systems at the University of the West of England (UWE) and theme leader for Assisted Living in
the Bristol Robotics Laboratory.
PhD in Interactive Evolutionary Algorithms for Configuring Machine Vision Systems. MSc Biomedical Instrumentation Engineering. BEng Electronic Systems Engineering
Expertise and interests
- User experience design and human-robot interaction for assistive robots
- Machine learning and adaptive computing (decision support systems and data mining) for medical signal processing
- Machine vision for pathology and industrial inspection
- Interactive evolution for algorithm optimisation
Nina Evans nina_designability
Research Occupational Therapist, Designability
Nina Evans is a Research Occupational Therapist specialising in Assistive Technology. She has brought her experience as a Community OT to Designability research projects including smart home technology and SomnIA Sleep in Aging. Many projects have created new products including the Blys Tray, Day Clock and One Button Radio. Her interests lay in how inclusive product design can contribute to improving quality of life and in the development and evaluation of Wizzybug, which was designed as a child friendly first experience of powered mobility for young children.
Expertise and interests
- Clinical trials with end-users
- The outcomes of assistive technology provision and the evidence base for assistive technology
- Progressing projects from initial consultation to completion
- Working in partnership with users, carers and professionals
Keir Haines keirhaines
Senior Product Designer, Designability
Keir is involved in design throughout the organisation, including Designability’s new product development projects and delivering consultancy design and user engagement services to external clients who are developing their own products. He has a real passion for healthcare products that look good, are usable and that deliver a positive user experience.
Expertise and interests
- Design research activities (trends, emerging technology and market appraisal)
- Industrial design styling and human factors
- Rapid prototyping processes and techniques
- 3D computer aided design and simulation
Mark Houston, NXP
Mark Houston is the Global Product Manager for NXP’s microcontroller portfolio of motor control and power control solutions. With more than 15 years of experience in microcontrollers – the majority of those focused on motor control – he has lead the development of the of the new Kinetis V series MCU portfolio for NXP. His focus is to bring solutions to market that dramatically simplify motor control application development. He holds a Master’s degree in Computing and a Bachelorof Science degree in Electronic Systems.
Barrie Ellis, Accessibility Technical Specialist, Special Effect specialeffect-(barrie)
SpecialEffect is a charity focussed on removing barriers from people who want to play games. By helping to level the playing field, they're bringing families and friends together and having a profoundly positive impact on therapy, confidence, rehabilitation and/or simple pure enjoyment.
Barrie Ellis has been involved with SpecialEffect since 2007 where he was welcomed by director Mick Donegan to post reviews on their early site. Soon after, he adapted and collated SpecialEffect's first road show accessible gaming stations and trained early volunteers and staff in how to use them. Barrie, like many others, has a passion for making the world a fairer and more accessible place, and resides in the world of accessible gaming and leisure technology because it's fun there.
"My electronics skills are rudimentary, but my knowledge of accessible leisure and video gaming is very broad with fingers in many pies. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions around accessible leisure if you are worried about re-inventing the wheel, if you'd just like a sounding-board, or anything else in this field. I am part-time at SpecialEffect as their Technical Specialist (Mondays and Fridays), but will endeavour to get back to everyone who reaches out as soon as I possibly can. Good luck, and good on you!"
Barrie's Twitter and Blog: https://twitter.com/oneswitch / http://switchgaming.blogspot.co.uk/
Ben Heck makerkaren
A self-taught hacker, modder and engineer, Benjamin Heckendorn – better known as Ben Heck – is host of element14’s The Ben Heck Show, a weekly web series in which Ben tackles fun and interesting projects across a wide range of topics –from 3D printing and gaming to drones and robots.
