[NOBE-L] FW: [NFB-Science] Announcement For A Zoom Conference On How The Blind Can Do STEM

Thu Feb 16 17:46:34 UTC 2023

Hi all!

The Science and Engineering division and NABS is putting on a conference
next weekend about STEM accessibility.

Thought this might be of interest to some folks.

Thanks,
Lauren

-----Original Message-----
From: NFB-Science <nfb-science-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Louis Maher
via NFB-Science
Sent: Friday, February 3, 2023 2:59 PM
To: Science Division (nfb-science at nfbnet.org) <nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Louis Maher <ljmaher03 at outlook.com>
Subject: [NFB-Science] Announcement For A Zoom Conference On How The Blind
Can Do STEM

Hello,

The Science and Engineering Division of the National Federation of the Blind
and the National Association of Blind Students are presenting a joint Zoom
conference on how blind college and graduate students, and blind
professionals, are succeeding in courses and Careers to do with science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics.  The Zoom conference link will be
the standard NABS Zoom link shown at the bottom of this message.  The call
will occur at 8 PM EST through 9 PM EST on Sunday, February 26, 2023.

Topics will be of interest for blind students in middle school, high school,
college and graduate school and professionals. Parents of blind school-aged
children and educators are also welcome.

Currently, the scheduled speakers, topics, talk descriptions, and speaker
introductions, are:

Opening Remarks: Trisha Kulkarni, president National Association of Blind
Students, and John Miller, president Science and Engineering Division (8 PM
EST)

Speaker: Ken Perry  (8:15 PM EST)

Title: Producing Hardware as A Blind Engineer

Description: APH released the Submersible Audio Light Sensor (SALS) at the
end of last year, which is a Bluetooth light sensor probe for detecting
opacity of Chemical liquids. SALS is the brain child of the blind chemist
Dr. Cary Supalo.  Cary worked with a sighted engineer to create the original
prototypes which were standalone boxes. From that point, Ken Perry, a Blind
Senior Software and Hardware engineer, stepped in to re-imagine the SALS
device as a Bluetooth probe connected to IOS and Android.  This talk will
walk the path from Snap circuits, bread board and Arduino, and finally to
NRF bare metal chip, and programming and design of the hardware.

Speaker Introduction: Ken Perry has been working in Access Technology for 31
years and has been doing electronics for longer. Ken began with electronics
early in life by helping his dad with anything he was allowed to. By the
time he was eight, he was the de facto tube tester for his fathers at home
TV repair shop. When he was nine, he helped his father build their first
Color TV a Zenith kit. Ken joined the Air Force right out of High school
following his father's footsteps as an Air force Electronics tech, until
fait redirected his steps into Disability retirement. With his newfound
adjusted vision on life, Ken returned to college and after listening to the
VA counselors he was told that he wouldn't be able to do electronics. He
took his electronics knowledge and used it to earn a bachelor's in software
engineering. In 2012 he began working with Orbit Research to Develop the
Orion TI-84 Talking Graphing calculator.  Then In 2013, His wife and family
bought him a Robotics kit and Snap Circuits kit that with his help they
created accessible instructions for which he passed on to APH to create the
four accessible Snap Circuit kits. He has worked with Orbit research on
designs like orbit Reader, Graphiti, and with Independent Science on
designing the SALS probe. This year APH will be releasing another one of his
projects which is the Accessible Arduino kit with tactile schematics and 16
starter projects.

Speaker: Annemiek van Leendert (8:30 PM EST)

Title: Support for reading mathematical expressions in Braille

Description: I will give a presentation about my PhD research. The main
question that guided this research was: How can Braille readers improve
reading and understanding of mathematical expressions? I have studied this
question from different angles. The emphasis was on research into tactile
perception, the professionalization of mathematics teachers and the
representation of mathematical expressions in Braille. In this presentation,
I will focus on tactile perception. I will show how finger-tracking
technology has helped me understand the finger movements of Braille readers
while reading mathematical expressions.

Speaker Introduction: My name is Annemiek van Leendert. I am educated as a
teacher of mathematics and physics. I have been working for more than 30
years at Koninklijke Visio, an organization in the Netherlands that provides
care and education to people with a visual impairment. My expertise is
mathematics for Braille readers. In 2021, I successfully defended my PhD
dissertation. The title of my thesis is Improving Reading and Comprehending
Mathematical Expressions in Braille.

Speaker: Diego Vicioso (8:45 PM EST)

Title: Getting Through Stem Without Braille

Description: LateX and document conversion programs can be used to replace
braille, but the learning curve is steep. Over the last two years, I have
tried to collect my different experiences and bundle them into a format
that's easy to understand.

Speaker Introduction: I come from a country where it is almost impossible to
learn braille or the nemeth code. I will try to provide descriptions of what
has worked for me, and what hasn't.

If you have any questions, please contact Louis Maher (713-444-7838,
ljmaher03 at outlook.com<mailto:ljmaher03 at outlook.com>).
-----
Join Zoom Meeting:
February 26, 2023, 8 PM EST

Zoom Links
https://zoom.us/j/4678833687#success

Meeting ID: 467 883 3687

One tap mobile
+13017158592,,4678833687# US (Germantown)

13126266799,,4678833687# US (Chicago)

Regards
Louis Maher
Phone: 713-444-7838
Email: ljmaher03 at outlook.com

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