In preparation for its May conference, the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) is calling for submissions for its Developers’ Showcase and Student Design Challenge.
The Developers’ Showcase “features new products, products under development, and products that are currently being enhanced or redesigned,” RESNA said in its call. “All types of AT products are welcome, including hardware, software, standards or guidelines, and instruments or tools. Products may be open source or commercial, but may not currently be available on the market.”
Students, individual practitioners, researchers and manufacturers are eligible to send in submissions. “Developers must register for the conference as an attendee or be a confirmed exhibitor,” the guidelines added. “Submissions will be accepted subject to available space on a first-come-first-served basis, provided they meet the criteria.”
The Developers’ Showcase will take place at RESNA’s conference in Chicago in May. RESNA will announce the winner of the Impact Award and the Audience Favorite Award at the association’s awards ceremony on May 15.
The Student Design Challenge (SDC), also now accepting submissions, “is an annual competition which provides undergraduate, masters-level, and terminal clinical doctorate students an opportunity to create, develop, and showcase assistive technology designs that help people with a variety of disabilities to live more independent lives.”
Past participants have been from engineering, computer information science, architecture, and rehabilitation science programs, such as physical, occupational, or speech therapy, but students from any discipline may send in submissions. Ph.D. students are not eligible.
“Projects are judged by a group of AT [assistive technology] experts on originality, innovation, quality of design, and usefulness to persons with disabilities,” RESNA said. “The top five SDC teams chosen as finalists have an opportunity to present their design at both the Student Design Challenge and in the Developers’ Showcase during RehabWeek 2025.”
The deadline for both the Developers’ Showcase and the Student Design Challenge is Feb. 21.
RESNA’s 2025 conference is part of RehabWeek 2025, which will bring together eight rehabilitation and assistive technology organizations from around the world to meet in Chicago, May 12-16.
