Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
capacity are encouraged to make a donation should they see fit. In some cases,
the cost of developing a specific customized technology can be very high. It
might require, for example, the full time attention of two senior engineers for
6 months. It is not realistic to institute a charge directed at recouping a major
portion of the cost of such a project. So within the program as a whole, there
must be a means of subsidizing the more complex and challenging projects.
We also recognize, that over the long term, to be sustainable, we must
secure revenues from some of our lower cost technologies, particularly those
that might secure a relatively large market. There are a number of options
to do so. One approach under consideration is to set up a small scale man-
ufacturing facility that will employ people with disabilities in a number of
facets of its operation (for example, in the processing of orders, production,
packaging, inventory control). The benefits would be twofold: (1) accrued
revenues would offset some of the costs associated with the development of
individualized technologies and (2) meaningful and rewarding work would be
provided to individuals, who by virtue of their challenges, have limited job
opportunities.
Other opportunities to generate revenues will come about through the
development of technologies that could be utilized in other arenas and
markets (e.g., medical technology). This is particularly true of devices or
products that could be adopted by general users, simply through the incor-
poration of good universal design features. For example, our CanConnect
program, which allows calls to be made over the internet by simply touch-
ing an onscreen photo or icon, could appeal to a wide range of users who
are not necessarily comfortable using a much more complicated computer
interface [
1
].
7.4 The University Commitment: Engaging Faculty,
Students, and the Community
In order for the CanAssist model to be adopted elsewhere, it is critical that
universities make a fundamental commitment to the idea that community ser-
vice should become an entrenched, recognized, and valued activity alongside
research and education. Certainly, some work needs to be done to persuade
administrators that more emphasis should be placed on community service
when evaluating faculty, particularly with respect to determining tenure and
promotion.
One key ingredient to the success of the CanAssist program is that even
though its focus is on community service, it utilizes research and education to
achieve its goals. Thus, there are numerous opportunities to involve faculty,
whether through the supervision of students or through direct participation in
projects and core research. Faculty involvement is not just limited to those in
engineering, science or medical disciplines. For example, there are tremendous
