This VIP welcomes students of all levels, from first-year undergraduates to doctoral students. All majors and skill sets are welcome and encouraged to apply! We are looking for students who have experience with or an interest in inclusive design and innovation for people with disabilities.
Project Goals
According to the Global Report on Assistive Technology*, by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are more than 2.5 billion people who need Assistive Technology (AT) to live productive and dignified lives and nearly one billion of them do not have access to the AT they need. Access to AT can be as low as 3% in low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This VIP aims to enable students to actively participate in creative problem-solving toward bridging the AT access gap explained above. The students will be introduced to the fundamental concepts around disability, Assistive Technology (AT), inclusive design, and innovation while ideating feasible ways to collect and present user experience data to accelerate locally relevant AT innovation for low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
*Global report on assistive technology. Geneva: World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2022. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Assistive Technology (AT)
Assistive Technology (AT) is an umbrella term for assistive products that improve the functional abilities of people with disabilities and enable their participation and inclusion in all domains of life. AT may be a physical product such as a wheelchair, a hearing aid, or prostheses; or it may be a digital product in the form of software and an app that supports interpersonal communication, access to information, daily time management, rehabilitation, and education.
Meeting Schedule & Location
Fall semester 2024
Meeting Day: Tuesday
Time: 1:00 – 1:50 (sub-team 1) & 2:00 – 2:50 (sub-team 2)
Building: Building: East Architecture
Room: 214
The VIP Model
Georgia Tech’s Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) is a transformative approach to engage undergraduate and graduate students in ambitious, long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary project teams that are led by faculty. VIP creates long-term experiences with the innovation process extending project-based learning beyond a single semester, with students participating for up to three years.