The Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) presented its 2025 awards before a virtual audience on June 5.
The first honor to be presented was the Emerging Leader Award, which emcee Jim Lenker, Ph.D., OTR/L, ATP, said “recognizes members who’ve made significant contributions, provided leadership, and have made an impact on RESNA during their first several years of active participation.” Lenker presented the award to Gabrielle Kowalski, OT, a recent graduate of the Ohio State University.
“It’s really amazing to know that I can make even just a small impact and more on the field that I care a lot about,” Kowalski said in accepting the award. “My experience on the board has been wonderful. Thank you to everyone for welcoming me to the board. And I just wanted to say thank you to my parents for indulging in all of my different interests as a child, including robotics that then led to OT.”
Next, the Distinguished Service Award was presented to Ana Allegretti, Ph.D., OTR, ATP, a member of the board of directors and a member of the Assistive Technology Journal board.
“I always wanted to be part of RESNA and it really is a great honor to receive this award,” Allegretti said. “I feel incredibly fortunate to have the support of all of you, of my colleagues here, that allows me to have the time to participate in organizations like RESNA. … This award represents more than just my individual efforts. It reflects the passion and commitment that so many of us share in this field. There’s so much that we can gain from being part of RESNA.”
The Samuel McFarland Memorial Mentorship Award recognizes a RESNA member or a group of members who have nurtured others in rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology. The 2025 winner was Richard Schein, Ph.D., MPH.
Past RESNA President Carmen DiGiovine, Ph.D., ATP/SMS, RET, said in introducing Schein, “I think this is the most important RESNA award because it demonstrates a clear passion for service and a willingness to share your knowledge, skills and expertise with others. Without mentors, I don’t think any of us would be here today.”
“I’m deeply humbled to receive the Sam McFarlane Mentorship Award,” Schein said. “This recognition is incredibly meaningful because of what it says about the people who I’ve had the privilege to be around. I’ve been very fortunate to have mentors in my own life; some of them are on this call as well. To those I’ve worked with, you’ve taught me just as much, if not more. I share this recognition with all the students, colleagues, collaborators and this incredible community, who have challenged and inspired me over the years. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your journey. Taking the time to invest in people, I think, is one of the most powerful things we can do.”
The Colin McLaurin Distinguished Lecture award was given to Mark Schmeler, Ph.D., OTR/L, ATP. In introducing Schmeler, Ana Allegretti called him “a true pioneer in assistive technology, particularly in the area of wheeled mobility. He’s an educator, researcher, mentor, and a tireless advocate whose work has inspired students, clinicians and colleagues all over the world.”
In a pre-recorded video of his acceptance, Schmeler said, “I’m completely honored to receive the Colin McLaurin Lecture award. It’s overwhelming, and I want to thank RESNA, I want to thank all the members and people who nominated me for this award. I’ve been a member of RESNA since the very beginnings of my career, and I have found the organization to be an essential part of who I am as a person and a professional. I hope that I can give the lectureship some justice — based on previous people who’ve received the award, I’ve listened to them and they are very, very deserving. I’m completely honored.”
RESNA’s Leadership Award was presented to the International Society of Wheelchair Professionals (ISWP), represented by Executive Director Alex Kamadu, MBA, OT.
The ISWP has been in the news recently not just because 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the organization initially established at the University of Pittsburgh, but also because the organization lost funding following a Trump administration freeze on U.S. foreign aid in April.
RESNA members and leadership expressed ongoing support for the ISWP and its mission to empower wheelchair users and their families by serving as a global resource for wheelchair service standards and provision by supporting advocacy, education, evidence-based practice, innovation, and information exchange.
“We are deeply humbled and really grateful for RESNA’s recognition of us for this Leadership Award,” Kamadu said. “This recognition reflects the strength of the global community that we’ve developed together with many of you on this call today, and many others that are not able to join. This community we’ve created is all dedicated towards improving the lives of wheelchair users globally.”
Kamadu acknowledged current challenges while continuing to look forward. “We celebrate a decade of being in existence, and while it began with some challenges, including the devastating news that we had early termination of our USA grant, we remain resilient and we remain hopeful. It is acts of kindness like this award and the support from our partners that gives us the strength to keep moving.”
RESNA’s Honorary Fellow Award honors a non-RESNA member “who has promoted issues and demonstrated leadership highly relevant to the assistive technology and rehabilitation engineering field and who’s encouraged the independence of individuals with disabilities,” Lenker said.
Pedro Encarnação, Ph.D., was honored in a nomination letter from Emma Smith, Ph.D., MScOT, ATP/SMS. Smith described Encarnação as “a distinguished researcher, educator, and advocate in the field of rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology. He has made significant and sustained contributions to assistive technology research, particularly in the areas of robotics for rehabilitation, adaptive technology for children with disabilities, and human-computer interaction.”
Encarnação, in accepting the award, said “As I stand here today, it is only because I was very, very fortunate to have met people who believed in me and opened doors that changed the course of my professional life. … Any work I may have done on integrated augmentative communications, on inclusive play, or through editorial projects rests entirely on the foundations laid by others. The idea of standing on the shoulders of giants has never felt more real to me than it does today.”
This year, RESNA recognized two members for its highest honor: the RESNA Fellow Award.
In introducing Julie Piriano, PT, ATP/SMS, DiGiovine said, “The reason I’m here today is because of three people that introduced me to the field of assistive technology and rehabilitation engineering in the early 1990s. I’m sure many of you are not surprised that Julie Piriano is one of those individuals. … By entertaining all my questions and recognizing my interests in the certification process, I hope all of you today see the theme here that Julie has been a great role model throughout my career. And I’m guessing that she has done this, dare I say, for hundreds of individuals in this field.”
Piriano began by thanking “the entire RESNA family.”
“I am unbelievably honored by this and honestly pinching myself,” she said, “knowing that I’m now a member of the Hall of Fellows. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that. It’s never been a goal.”
Piriano said that when she attended her first RESNA conference in 1992, “I knew I found my people because I felt so welcome and at home. I don’t like pomp and circumstance, and I prefer just putting my head down and doing what I do, diving into my work and my volunteer activities, where I’ve been honored to collaborate with folks like Simon and the two Jerry/Gerrys and Weesie who, like Cher, don’t need a last name, and Sprigle and Schmeler, who really don’t need a first name.”
Acknowledging that she’s “knocking on the door of that golden age where you retire,” Piriano added, “I have no intentions of retiring and look forward to many, many more years with my dear friends at RESNA.”
The second Fellow Award was given posthumously to Robert Van Etten, ME, BSE, ATP, who passed away in December 2024.
In detailing Van Etten’s achievements, RESNA Treasurer Glenn Hedman, MS, PE, ATP, RET, said Van Etten’s impact on RESNA has been “profound.”
“RESNA was just getting its foundations in the 1980s,” Hedman noted. “[Van Etten] was not only a RESNA board member, but he provided early leadership in a couple of early SIGs [special interest groups]: the SIG on computers, and the SIG on service delivery. Through his model of private practice, he taught us a lot about the field of rehab engineering and how viable it was, that the field has an identity. It helped gain an identity through Bob’s work, his sharing of expertise at conferences, his sharing of examples of his work.”
Former RESNA President Jerry Weisman, MSME, ATP, RET, added that one of Van Etten’s most significant contributions “was teaching a lot of us about private consultancy. He started his private consulting business in 1983; that was only a couple of years after RESNA got started. And the idea that a private rehabilitation engineer, a profession that almost no one knew anything about, could hang a shingle out and provide services to people with disabilities was truly unique.”
Angela Van Etten accepted the award on her late husband’s behalf.
“He’s gone, but it’s still encouraging to hear about the impact that he had on his colleagues,” Angela said. “I was trying to calculate how long he was practicing or working as a rehab engineer. I came up with 35 years, trying to be conservative, but it might have been closer to 38.”
As for the award, “It’s going to be sitting on a shelf,” Angela said. “It’s going to stand alone and it’ll get a prized spot in our house.”
