[Ncabs] Student Seminar Potential Guest

Fri Dec 31 03:44:31 UTC 2010

Dr. Y, who that article is about, is a member of the WFB. He doesn't
come to every meeting, because he is busy with said project, but I am
certain that we have his contact information in the records. Knowing
Dr. Y, he is always willing to talk about his project. He's an awesome
guy! This is a guy who, while at the rehab center, told Miriam Dixon,
"I want to make a full-page Braille display." and she was like "Ok..."
and didn't think he'd do it, and now she's so proud of him because he
Iis* doing it. Want me to ask Lusi Radford, WFB president, if we have
Dr. Y's contact information on file? I could pass it on to whoever
wants to call/e-mail him.

On 12/29/10, Salisbury, Justin Mark <SALISBURYJ08 at students.ecu.edu> wrote:
> Thanks!  I was kind of thinking about a combination of what you two were
> saying.  I think he'd be a good speaker for the fact that he's in a
> high-powered STEM career to inspire students to realize that they can do it,
> and I also think that it's important that we keep it close to our audience.
> We don't want it to be too technical.  I think having him tell them the
> impact that his new refreshable Braille display can have would be great.  My
> understanding is that it will be a lot easier for everyone to obtain one
> because they'll be less expensive.  That's one thing that the blind
> community needs.  Special new features will be interesting.
>
> I still want to hear ideas, though, so keep 'em coming, everybody!
>
> Justin
>
> Justin M. Salisbury
> Undergraduate Student
> The University Honors Program
> East Carolina University
> salisburyj08 at students.ecu.edu
>
> "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought
> without accepting it."    -Aristotle
> ________________________________________
> From: ncabs-bounces at nfbnet.org [ncabs-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Cala
> Estes [cala.estes at gmail.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 7:13 PM
> To: North Carolina Association of Blind Students List
> Subject: Re: [Ncabs] Student Seminar Potential Guest
>
> I remember someone speaking briefly about this during breakout session
> last year. I would be interested to hear what he has to say, but we
> also have to consider our audience. If he could talk about the braille
> display, and how it would relate to students in the classroom, I
> believe that would better relate to the seminar at large. How would it
> benifit students? What would be the difference between this braille
> display and the current models as far as how assignments are
> completed? That sort of thing.
> If we could have him speak, it would be wonderful!
>
> Cala
>
> On 12/29/10, Salisbury, Justin Mark <SALISBURYJ08 at students.ecu.edu> wrote:
>> Dear NCABS members,
>>
>>    Please read this little article that I found on the main NFB website.
>> I
>> think that this gentleman could be an excellent guest at our student
>> seminar, especially since he works in Raleigh at that red school.
>> Everyone,
>> please provide your thoughts about how he might best be able to
>> contribute.
>>
>> Report from the Research and Development Committee:
>>
>> One of the longstanding interests of the NFB research and development
>> committee has been the development of a refreshable Braille display that
>> is
>> considerably less costly than the Braille displays on the market today.
>> The
>> piezoelectric technology used to move the dots on today's Braille displays
>> has been around since the mid 1970s with very little cost reduction or
>> technological improvement. Just before the research and development
>> committee meeting held on Wednesday, July 7, Curtis Chong, the committee’s
>> chair, talked with Peichun Yang “Paul” Chang, PhD, a blind researcher at
>> North Carolina State University, who is working on a project to use
>> electroactive polymer technology to drive a multi-line refreshable Braille
>> display.
>>
>> Dr. Chang's story is interesting. In 1992 he came to the United States
>> from
>> China to study at North Carolina State University's materials science and
>> engineering department. After five years of study he obtained his PhD in
>> 1997. For seven months he performed post doctoral work in the campus
>> microelectronics laboratory. In 1998 he lost his sight as the result of an
>> accident. After he got out of the hospital, he spent a year receiving
>> training in the alternative techniques of blindness--learning Braille,
>> nonvisual access to the computer, and independent travel. During this
>> period
>> it became apparent to him that a refreshable Braille display could be a
>> very
>> useful tool for someone who is blind. He communicated with many people
>> around the world in an effort to come up with a lower-cost Braille
>> display.
>> He even met with Deane Blazie, a pioneer in technology for the blind. In
>> 2003 he attended an international conference on electroactive polymer
>> actuators and devices in San Diego. At this conference Dr. Chang
>> demonstrated the concept of a model Braille cell using a hydraulic
>> latching
>> mechanism in the EAP-In-Action (electroactive polymer in action) section
>> of
>> the conference. After a few years of trying to secure grant funding, in
>> 2007
>> he and others at North Carolina State University secured a three-year
>> field-initiated projects grant from NIDRR. Two years into the grant they
>> had
>> an experimental breakthrough that was published in a paper presented at
>> the
>> twelfth International Conference on Electroactive Polymer Actuators and
>> Devices in San Diego. Dr. Chang told Curtis that in five years he expects
>> to
>> have a working prototype.
>>
>> In layman's terms this is what Curtis understood from talking with Dr.
>> Chang: if electroactive polymer technology can be used to drive
>> refreshable
>> Braille displays, the cost per cell should be reduced by a factor of ten.
>> The piezoelectric reeds driving today's refreshable Braille displays have
>> to
>> be cut using a diamond saw. The plastic used in electroactive polymer
>> technology can be cut using something as simple as a razor blade. The
>> intriguing thing is that Dr. Chang is himself a user of refreshable
>> Braille
>> technology. He uses it every day and clearly understands the importance of
>> readable Braille dots and fast response times with refreshable Braille.
>> Here’s hoping that this is the breakthrough we have been hoping for.
>>
>>
>> Thank you!
>>
>> Justin
>>
>> Justin M. Salisbury
>> Undergraduate Student
>> The University Honors Program
>> East Carolina University
>> salisburyj08 at students.ecu.edu
>>
>> "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought
>> without accepting it."    -Aristotle
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>
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-- 
~Jewel
Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com