Biography

Saleh Alqahtani is currently a graduate student researcher with the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology (RST) in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.

He received his MSc. In Rehabilitation Science and Technology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2011 andworked as rehabilitation engineer for several years in King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh before joining HERL as a graduate student researcher, in pursuit of his PhD degree in Rehabilitation Science and Technology. He started his doctoral studies in 2016 under the mentorship of Dr. Rory Cooper. Mr. AlQahtani came to the University of Pittsburgh from Saudi Arabia where little was known about assistive technology prescription and provision. Upon receiving his Master's degree in Rehabilitation Science and Technology, he became a pioneer in this field in Saudi Arabia, becoming an expert in assistive technology, especially technology used for individuals with spinal cord injuries, and started the Assistive Technology department from the ground up while at King Fahad Medical City.

He is currently working on a global project for his dissertation called “Global Voice of the Consumer” to record the voices of different mobility users around the world about the top environmental barriers they encounter daily in order to inform future areas of research and development in mobility assistive technology field.

Biography

Hailee Kulich is a graduate student researcher at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories working under Dr. Alicia Koontz and Dr. Rory Cooper. She is working towards her PhD in rehabilitation science and technology at the University of Pittsburgh. Hailee graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 2016. Currently, Hailee is working on developing a clinical tool to evaluate the quality of assisted wheelchair transfers performed by informal caregivers, with a goal of developing better training, educational interventions, and assistive technologies for these individuals. Her reserach interests include wheelchair biomechanics, ergonomics, and the development of new assistive technologies.

Biography

Ian was 2020 HERL Staff Member of the Year.

Biography

Josh Marino is a decorated Veteran of the US Army, with both domestic and combat experience. He was wounded in action in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2007 and was medically discharged in 2009. He has earned a BA in Social Sciences and a MS in Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling through the University of Pittsburgh, and works with a number of service organizations to advocate for and advance the interests of veterans and individuals with disabilities. Josh currently serves as Assistant Director for Education and Outreach with the Human Engineering Research Laboratories.

Biography

James Joseph, Gunnery Sergeant USMC (ret.), is a Research Associate and Peer Mentor of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL). He is a Rehabilitation and Clinical Mental Health Counselor (MS) and Information Technology (BS) specialist. His areas of interest are Rehabilitation Science aimed at improving the quality of life for individuals living with disability, especially Veterans. GySgt. Joseph spent twenty-two years on active duty in the United States Marine Corps serving as an electro-optics technician in multiple worldwide assignments.

Biography

S. Andrea Sundaram is a PhD candidate. He is currently supported on a Craig H. Nielsen Foundation Fellowship and a NSF Integrative Research and Education Training Fellowship. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, where he studied physics and Italian, and his Master’s in Italian Studies from the University of Toronto. He subsequently worked as a research scientist in the advanced product development group for a Fortune 200 company producing consumer appliances.  Following a spinal cord injury, he joined the Human Engineering Research Laboratories as a PhD student, where his dissertation topic is the identification of pressure relief maneuvers by manual wheelchair users.

Biography

Jorge Candiotti, Ph.D. is a post-doctoral fellow at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in mathematics and PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Science from the University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2010 and 2017, respectively. Dr. Candiotti defended his thesis dissertation “DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND USABILITY EVALUATION OF CONTROL ALGORITHMS FOR A MOBILITY ENHANCEMENT ROBOTIC WHEELCHAIR (MEBOT)” in 2017 which resulted in 3 first-author papers, 5 co-author papers and 1 patent-pending. His research interests include rehabilitation robotics and human-robotic interaction through participatory action design to improve the mobility in people with spinal cord injury.