In April, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Public Notice inviting stakeholder input to Refresh the Record on Facilitating Multimedia Content in Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) [PS Docket Nos. 15-91 and 15-94] was published in the Federal Register, setting the comment and reply comment deadlines as May 29, 2018, and June 11, 2018, respectively.
Brad Fain (CACP), Paul M.A. Baker (CACP), and Brian Jones (Wireless RERC) were panelists on the “Aging and Technology” panel, part of the Southern Gerontological Society annual meeting held in Buford Georgia, April 13, 2017.
Click here for more information on the Southern Gerontological Society Meeting
Wireless RERC principal investigator, Helena Mitchell, and researcher, Salimah LaForce, will present Getting on the Record with the FCC: Public Input Process How To's at the 33rd CSUN Assistive Technology Conference (CSUN). The session is on Thursday, March 22, 2018, at 3:20 PM. CSUN will convene March 19 to March 23, 2018, in San Diego, California and is the largest international conference addressing topics regarding people with disabilities and assistive and accessible technologies.
Paul M.A. Baker was an invited speaker at the Engaging Electors With Disabilities, Inspire Democracy Workshop, hosted by Elections Canada and the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy (IFSD), on March 2, 2018, in Ottawa, Ontario. He spoke on the broader social factors affecting accessible voting and inclusive elections.
Wireless RERC principal investigator, Helena Mitchell, Ph.D., was interviewed for the IBM thinkLeaders Blog, Innovating for people with disabilities: Why companies should invest in universal design. The article discusses many pathways to inclusion, including the Internet of Things, incorporating universal design principles into all mainstream devices, and advancing assistive technologies.
Helena Mitchell, Ph.D., executive director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP), was re-appointed to Regents' Researcher by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. The Regents’ Researcher title is the highest research recognition bestowed by the University System of Georgia, and celebrates Mitchell’s scientific accomplishments and contributions to her field of research. Mitchell was recruited to Georgia Tech through the Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar program that spans educational, community and business environments.
Helena Mitchell was a speaker at the Amity University [in] London Leadership Workshop on The Impact of Shifting Technologies. She also served as referee for six Ph.D. student presentations at the University of London, Birkbeck College for students of Amity University. The student presentations covered the future of finance on industries such as robotics innovation sources; and opportunities to advance adoption of R&D. This event took place on November 10, 2017 in London, United Kingdom.
Helena Mitchell made a guest presentation before the DHS, FEMA, IPAWS subcommittee on emergencies. The subcommittee requested Mitchell to present a tutorial on Taking Appropriate Action during Emergencies. The title of the presentation was “Effective Emergency Alerts = Appropriate Action”. This webinar was directed toward committee and all the subcommittee memberships. It addressed how research conducted by the Wireless RERC yielded findings regarding which technologies were the most effective during disasters. The presentation was held on October 18, 2017.
Paul M.A. Baker and Kaye Husbands Fealing presented at the Workshop on Government Decision-Making and Allocating Scientific Resources. They presented on the Scientific Labor Force panel on their NSF-funded grant titled A Research Agenda for Science of Broadening Participation (SoBP) 2.0: STEM Employment of People with Disabilities. This event was held in Washington, D.C. from January 8-9, 2018.
Paul M.A. Baker was a panelist on the "How Fiber Broadband Drives Education, Skill and Workforce Requirements… And How It Helps Meet Those Needs” panel, at the "Fiber for a New Economy” 2017 Economic Development Conference, Atlanta, GA, November 8, 2017.
Paul M.A. Baker was an invited Visiting Scholar at the School of Economics and Management at Beihang University, in Beijing China. He worked with faculty and doctoral students in several areas: policy approaches to broadening participation in STEM disciplines including people with disabilities, workforce innovation and postsecondary education, and technology and the “Future of Work." Beihang University, focused on engineering science and technology, is one of the ten highest ranking engineering universities in China.
Researchers at the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Inclusive Technologies (Wireless RERC) have conducted a review of representative applications and examples of currently available wearable and connected technologies. Drawing on the findings, the research brief explores the potential impact of inclusive design principles on future device development for users with disabilities – a critical approach to ensuring that these technologies truly meet the needs of this target population.
CACP researcher Nathan W. Moon recently attended "STEM Education, Learning Disabilities, and the Science of Dyslexia," a conference sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on September 26-27, 2017, in Washington, D.C. The conference was a response to the Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia (READ) Act, which was passed into law by Congress in 2016 and mandates NSF funding for dyslexia research.
Robert Todd (University System of Georgia), Nathan W. Moon, and Maureen Linden delivered a presentation on Monday, October 9, 2017, at the 33rd Annual Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity (Pac-Rim Conference), in Honolulu, HI. The presentation "BreakThru: Findings & Lessons in Using Virtual Worlds to Broaden Participation of Students with Disabilities in STEM" discussed key findings from the National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported Georgia STEM Accessibility Alliance (GSAA) and its BreakThru project.
Paul M.A. Baker was on the “Dystopian future tech and gaming” panel at Dragon Con 2017, Saturday, September 2, 2017. Dragon Con is the largest multi-media and pop culture convention focused on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, film, cosplay, and more.
