Open2012 technology-innovations-disabilities-goldberg

Department ofDepartment
Veterans Affairs of Veterans Affairs

Technology Innovations
for Persons with
Disabilities (TIPeD)
Mary Goldberg, MEd
Education & Outreach Coordinator

Jon Pearlman, PhD
Assistant Professor, RST, SHRS

Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Human Engineering Research Laboratories

Department of Veterans Affairs

Talk outline

• Program overview & plan
• 1st cohort results
• Program replication
• Feedback and questions


Departmental structure

• Rehabilitation Science & Technology
• Human Engineering Research
Laboratories
• Veterans Affairs
• QoLT
• Intern programs


TIPeD Program
• Product development program funded by
NCIIA
• Augment ASPIRE & QoLT REU programs


Background

• Assistive technology & participation in
society
• Inappropriate designs
• Design shortcomings
• Improve independence and safety of
users


Background

• AT market
• 3rd party payers
• Performance & safety requirements
• Academic institutions
• Valley of death


Technology transfer

• SBIR and STTR programs
• Technology transfer offices within
universities
• Interdisciplinary programs


HERL technology development

• Commercialized 5 products
• 3 patents awarded; 9 pending
• Research & user-driven innovations
• Business partners
• Multidisciplinary faculty, students, &
staff


HERL technology development
• Design & fabrication facilities
• Funding streams
• SBIR/STTR involvement


Design Series


NCIIA funding

• Requested support for multidisciplinary
teams
• Workshops on innovation &
entrepreneurship
• Tours of local companies
• Collaborative program facilitation


Evidence-based program model

• Experiential learning
• Solving problems of social relevance


Program structure

• Interdisciplinary leadership team
• Solicited ideas from faculty
• Project mission
• Commercial potential
• Feasible 10-week objectives
• Result in SBIR proposal


Participants

• Funding challenge
• 1 engineering & 1 business student
• Law student to investigate intellectual
property


Students’ tasks

• Technology design, development, and
evaluation
• SBIR proposal instead of technical paper


Learning objectives


Activities
• Enhanced cohort
– ELeVATE
– REU
– Bridge

• Talks


Weekly meetings

• Elevator pitch
• Tasks completed
• Next steps
• Archives & team websites


SBIR Proposal
• Technology
– Research and development efforts

– Technical merit

– Feasibility

• Commercialization
– Market description

– IP protection

– Finance plan

– Marketing plan

– Revenue stream


Other deliverables
• Poster
• Oral presentation
• Participation in comprehensive
symposium


Evaluation and sustainability
plan
• 50% success rate on securing seed
funding within 12 months of starting
summer project
• 25% success rate on establishing an
operating company, measured by actual
sales within two years of starting
summer project


Evaluation and sustainability
plan
• At least one nationally-advertised design
award, per year (RESNA, Lemmelson)
• Obtain additional funding for TIPeD
from federal agency or foundation within
the first 12 months of program


1st cohort-summer 2011

• 6 primary students
• Bus Buddy
• Low-cost footwear
• Smart controller


Bus Buddy

• Novel self-administered containment
system


Bus Buddy
• Reduced:
– System Weight by ~30%

– Upright Weight by ~60%

– Upright Width by ~40%

– Lateral Arm Weight by ~10%

– Cost ~70%

• Increased:
– Upright Strength

– Efficiency of the Lifting Mechanism


Production Strategy
STRATEGY #1
• Contract with Forecasted Revenue, Gross Margin, and Operating Income
Manufacturers for $3,500,000
Device Components Revenue
• In-House Marketing $3,000,000
Gross Margin
FINANCES $2,500,000
Operating Income
• Price: $1,000/unit $2,000,000
U.S. Dollars

• Sales in Units: $1,500,000
Year 1: 30 units
Year 2: 150 units $1,000,000
Year 3: 1,000 units
Year 4: 2,000 units $500,000
Year 5: 3,000 units
$0
• Cost: $750 Years
($500,000) 1 2 3 4 5
1 and 2; $650 each
Year
year after ($1,000,000)
• Financing: $500k
• Break Even: Year 3


Low-Cost Basic Custom Fit
Footwear
• Diabetic footwear
• Ordering and distribution system
• Sandals with assembly instructions
• Business plan for establishing footwear
microenterprises to sell both custom and
regular sandals


Low-Cost Basic Custom Fit
Footwear


Production & Marketing
• Final production will be done by entrepreneurs
• 90 to 160 entrepreneurs can sell the shoes from 2012 to 2016

Step 2. Draw and Cut Step 3. Packing with Instruction
Step 1. Materials
Rubber

Leather

Step 5. Selling Step 4. Entrepreneur


Finance plan
• Initial Investment : $100,000
• Financing : $200,000 at Y1 for operating expense

Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5
Ashanti Ashanti Ghana Ghana Ghana
Upper East Upper East Americas(33%) Americas(66%) Americas(100%)
Target Market
Western Western Cote D'ivore Cote D'ivore
Togo Togo
Sales 29,102 53,023 1,479,333 2,851,528 4,168,453
Revenue 87,305 169,675 15,832,557 35,580,305 57,797,959
COGS 81,779 153,198 6,352,339 15,553,388 27,361,363
Gross Margin 5,526 16,478 9,480,218 20,026,917 30,436,597
Operating Expenses 127,101 208,986 3,809,013 7,926,456 11,642,263
Income Before Taxes (121,575) (192,508) 5,671,206 12,100,460 18,794,333
Net Income (123,705) (215,471) 3,520,609 7,247,513 11,268,637
Sponsor Money 30,000 55,000 370,000 430,000 450,000


Powered Mobility Controller
Platform
• Smart controller for Personal Mobility
and Manipulation Appliance (PerMMA)
Gen I as PerMMA I Controller Gen II as PerMMA II Controller


Smart Controller Design
Amplifiers to control
driving wheels

PC – Single Board Embedded Cobra
Kill Switch for Safety
Customized PCB board.
Interface btw sensors, encoders and PC

Top View of Smart Controller
10.5”

Two fans to Cool
System Down
Power Switch
Input
Command, 5.25”
i.e, joystick
Ethernet Connection to
Display from PC communicate
with another computer

10.00”


Market Research
• Potential users and market size
– Powered mobility device users
• Market size:
– 1.4-2.1 million (represents 61-91% of all wc users)

– Persons 65+: by 2030, 75% of 69 million people will be 65+

– 40% increased users based on prescriptions

– Powered mobility devices suppliers or manufacturers
• Invacare, Permobil, Pride Mobility, etc

– Powered mobility research
• 200+ enttities

– Higher education: estimated 5,700
– Wheelchair clinics: estimated 15,000


Commercialization factors
• Promising preliminary data
– Safe and reliable

– Improving the driving performance

– Used for multiple research projects

• Platform technology
– Used on three EPWs already

– Conduct some clinical studies

• FDA approval
– Will not be a big issue

– hardware and software design are according to FDA requirements

– Previous experiences on similar products


Evaluation

• 100% recommend program
• 78% suggest interest in entrepreneurship
increase
– Independent thinking skills


Evaluation


Challenges

• Student funding
• Mentorship commitment variability
• Faculty familiarity with technology
transfer


Changes

• Templates
• Training
• Basecamp
• MS Engineering/MBA student
involvement


Program Outcomes

• Big Idea Competition
• LINC Designs
• 1 SBIR submitted
• Grants in review


Create your own program

• $80k/year including admin, student
stipends, project supplies, travel
expenses
• 10% supported by NCIIA
– Supplies
– Admin support
– Travel to design competitions &
entrepreneurship conferences



• Multidisciplinary partnerships across
university departments
• Project based courses
– e.g. RST design series

• Independent study courses



• Workshops
– Concept generation
– Prototyping
– Patents
– Intellectual property
– Product development economics
– Managing projects


Acknowledgements
• Funding: National Collegiate Innovators &
Inventors Alliance Grant #7563-10, National
Science Foundation Grants EEC0540866 &
EEC0849878, Berg Center for Ethics & Leadership
• Mentors: Mary Jo Geyer, Dennis Janisse, Linda
van Roosmalen, Eric Porach, Honwu Wang,
Rory Cooper
• Students: Melvin McElrath, Max Gruder, Kira
Eckstein, Jonathan Valz, Rob Fillippi, Joe Trebitz,
QoLT Foundry Interns


References*
• Ansi/Resna. “American National Standard for Wheechairs-- Volume 1-19 Wheelchairs used as seats in motor vehicles.”
Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America: Virginia (2000).
• Auerswald, P.E. and L.M. Branscomb. “Valleys of Death and Darwinian Seas: Financing
• the Invention to Innovation Transition in the United States.” The Journal of Technology Transfer, 28 (2003): 227-239.
• Hawtrey, K. "Using Experiential Learning Techniques." Journal of Economic Education, 38 (2007): 143-152.
• Kirby, R.L. and D.A. MacLeod. "Wheelchair-related injuries reported to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance
System: an update." RESNA 2001 Annual Conference: Reno, NV (2001).
• Knotts, T.L. "The SBDC in the Classroom: Providing Experiential Learning Opportunities at Different Entrepreneurial
Stages." Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 14 (2011): 25-38.
• Kolb, D. “Experiential Learning Theory: Previous Research and New Directions” In R. J. Sternberg and L. F. Zhang
(Eds.), Perspectives on cognitive, learning, and thinking styles. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, (2000).
• Kolb, D. Experiential learning. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall (1984).
• Legs to Stand On. http://www.legstostandon.org (2011)
• McCarthy, P.R. & H.M. McCarthy. "Why Case Studies are not Enough: Integrating Experiential Learning into Business
Curricula." Journal of Education for Business 81 (2009): 201-204.
• Phillips, B. and H. Zhao. "Predictors of Assistive Technology Abandonment." Assistive Technology, 5 (1993): 36-45.

*Additional project references (i.e. from Bus Buddy, Low-Cost Footwear, Smart Controller projects) available upon request.


Contact information
Mary R. Goldberg
University of Pittsburgh
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Rehabilitation Science and Technology
6425 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
mrh35@pitt.edu
www.herl.pitt.edu
www.qolt.pitt.edu
412-822-3700

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