Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Spinal Cord Injury

January 28, 2016 udcom

Overview of Research and Development Activitiesur Center contains three development and three research projects, plus a Clinical Core. The ‘R’ projects are primarily research, while the ‘D’ projects focus on development. Each project has multiple aims and, in some circumstances, an R may contain elements of development and vice versa. As a general rule, all of our R&D projects have implementation and/or commercialization as their ultimate goal. The fundamental difference between our R&D projects is that the research projects generally begin with evaluation of technology that has already been developed, whereas development projects aim to create technology and then evaluate it.

Universal Design (UD) is an approach to design that increases the potential for developing a better quality of life for a wide range of individuals. It is a design process that enables and empowers a diverse population by improving human performance, health and wellness, and social participation (Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012). It creates products, systems, and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation.