American Student Placements and Internships in Rehabilitation Engineering (ASPIRE)

Principle Investigator: Rory Cooper, Ph.D./Co-PI: Alicia Koontz, Ph.D.

Funding Source: National Science Foundation

May 1, 2006-April 31, 2009

Rehabilitation engineering involves understanding the problems faced by individuals with disabilities and determining solutions to these problems through the application of engineering principles.   Our National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates Site (REU) at Pitt will allow us to extend internship opportunities to students from other schools; in particular those schools that do not have programs, internships, or undergraduate research opportunities available in rehabilitation engineering (RE) or assistive technology (AT).  

ASPIRE Objectives:  The objectives of this proposed REU site entitled ‘ASPIRE’ (American Student Placements and Internships in Rehabilitation Engineering) are to:

1)Enroll undergraduate students from engineering and technical schools located outside of Pittsburgh, PA and those schools that do not offer a program or research experience in rehabilitation engineering or assistive technology.

2)Engage undergraduate students from diversified areas of engineering (e.g., mechanical, electrical, biomedical) in rehabilitation engineering research to gain exposure to the field and to individuals with disabilities.  

3)Expose engineering students from underrepresented groups (such as women, students with disabilities, and students of African-American, Hispanic or Native American descent) to the area of rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology research. 

4)Provide education and research training in the area of rehabilitation engineering through the completion of a research project and close interaction with an interdisciplinary research team consisting of faculty, engineers, scientists, and clinicians.