UTC Professors Receive Assistive Technology Grant

Dr. Edward McMahon and Dr. Cecelia Wigal of the University of Tennessee (UTC) Chattanooga received $32,500 USD from the Tennessee Department of Education for research and design of assistive technology devices.

Drs. McMahon and Wigal will focus on assistive technologies for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and utilize the award money to implement their “Technology Designed to Benefit” (TBD) project, which will focus on designing assistive technologies for young children with disabilities. Both will engage a team of freshman, junior, and senior level UTC engineering students to help with the assistive technology design. Applied learning opportunities involving assistive technology design will be available in three courses.

Drs. Wigal and McMahon will also draw on the expertise and support of Signal Centers and the Tennessee Early Intervention System (TEIS) as they hope to empower young children by providing them with the adaptive devices they need to transition from early intervention programs to inclusive environments.

Source: The Chattanoogan.com