Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
model does not work well for short term projects with a highly uncertain
upside. Funding for commercial ventures typically requires either a short cer-
tain pathway to a return on investment or the potential for a large return on
that investment. Because of the constraints inherent in both academic and
commercial enterprises, the YokyWorks team needed to find an innovative
approach.
Several non-profit organizations provide extraordinary benefit to people
with disabilities. The Tetra Society of North America [
9
] has supported a
large number of projects that help disabled people with specific challenges.
Tetra typically focuses their efforts on direct adaptation of existing commer-
cial devices tailored to the unique needs of a specific individual. Similar to
Tetra is an organization in the United Kingdom called Remap [
7
] which cre-
ates unique pieces of special equipment tailor-made by volunteers and given
at no cost to disabled individuals. In Australia, the Technical Aid to the Dis-
abled of New South Wales (TADNSW) [
8
] also creates one of a kind solutions
for disabled people in that region. In Canada, CanAssist [
10
], a university af-
filiated service organization, creates customized solutions for people with dis-
abilities, and is described in Chap.
7
of this topic. The Neil Squire Society [
6
],
a nonprofit organization in Canada, offers personal consultation, adaptation,
and worksite modification to existing technologies as part of its mission to
facilitate social and economic independence for people with disabilities. Yoky-
Works saw the opportunity to tackle more challenging development closer to
the academic research space with the potential to help more than the single
individual initially being served.
YokyWorks' challenge was to blend some of the best attributes of academic
and commercial structures with the benefits of non-profit structures. Histori-
cally, non-profit organizations have been used to provide services to people in
need, but it is far less common for non-profit organizations to develop goods
that benefit many people in need. The YokyWorks model does not work as
a commercial enterprise because no sincere assurance could be made to an
investor that there would ever be a return on investment. Compounding this
was YokyWorks' objective to tap into the good will of volunteers to provide
much of the brainpower behind the organization. Similarly, the YokyWorks
model does not work in an academic setting because results needed to be
achieved near term and were directed to people with immediate needs. Con-
sequently, YokyWorks sought to use a non-profit model that incorporated
certain elements of both commercial and academic enterprises.
8.3 Project Criteria
YokyWorks faces a problem common to both commercial and non-profit
enterprises: It has more need than resources. The organization lacks the
resources to help every person who requests assistance. The challenge for
