SAE Update - October 2023 - 2

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Putting accessible mobility at the forefront of progress
How does your access to transportation
affect the way you live?
You're connected to grocery stores,
healthcare appointments, social visits and
more in a system that's designed based on
ease of mobility.
Now imagine if new designs in technology
were taking that ability away. How would
you get from point A to point B?
As new vehicle designs that are changing
accessibility in transportation are
developed, the team at the Human
Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL)
is thinking about this and other usability
challenges for those with mobility
impairments - especially wheelchair users.
A team from SAE recently toured HERL
facilities in Pittsburgh to establish ties with
its geographic neighbor.
HERL is a part of the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs as the Center for
Wheelchairs and Assistive Robotics
Engineering, operated in conjunction with
the University of Pittsburgh. Founding
Director and VA Senior Research Career
Scientist of HERL and FISA Foundation -
Paralyzed Veterans of America Distinguished
Professor Rory Cooper, Ph.D., started the lab
about 30 years ago, taking inspiration from a
graduate advisor who challenged him to
take ownership of research and
development that mattered to him.
The area is personal for Dr. Cooper, who
himself is an engineer who uses a
wheelchair due to spinal cord injuries, and
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October 2023
With equipment such as wheelchair fatigue testing
machines, HErl's laboratory performs many tests of manual
and powered wheelchairs, as well as of lower-limb
prosthetics. The lab, one of the only independent wheelchair
testing facilities in the U.S., allows HErl researchers to
determine the safety and efficacy of their designs for
mobility aids.
his wife, Rosemarie Cooper, MPT, who
worked for years as a physical therapist
before joining her husband at HERL where
she serves as associate director of
stakeholder engagement.
And they aren't the only ones deeply
connected to the work they do - the entire
staff and research team is keenly invested
in creating mobility solutions for this
community; one-third of the student
researchers in the lab have impairments
that impact their mobility.
" HERL is a team of engineers, therapists,
physicians, counselors, and more working
together to develop advanced technology for
mobility and to enhance independence and
improve quality of life, " Rosemarie Cooper
said. " Our vision has always been to produce
the next generation of engineers including
people who have a disability. Advances must
directly include people with disabilities on the
UPDATE
Human Engineering Research Laboratories,
University of Pittsburgh
https://www.herl.pitt.edu/ https://www.herl.pitt.edu/
SAE Update - October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAE Update - October 2023
