[Nfbc-info] Hey Hey Hoby!!!Fw: [Nfbnet-master-list] White House Highlights STEM Innovators in theDisability Community as "Champions of Change"

Sat May 26 03:58:23 UTC 2012

Congratulations to Hoby!  I am so very proud of you, and wish you much success as the years pass. Take care,
Genesis Renata, Nashville, Tenn.

www.mojoradio.us 

TWITTER:Genesis Renata 

FACEBOOK:Genesis Renata

SKYPE:genesis.renata 

CHATROOM:www.mojoradio.us/chat (NO ONE UNDER 18 PERMITTED IN CHATROOM WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT)

 > From: mwillows at sbcglobal.net
> To: nfbc-info at nfbnet.org
> Date: Sun, 6 May 2012 21:54:32 -0700
> Subject: [Nfbc-info] Hey Hey Hoby!!!Fw: [Nfbnet-master-list] White House	Highlights STEM Innovators in theDisability Community as	"Champions of Change"
> 
> Please read the message below.  Our very own Henry (Hoby) Wedler is on his 
> way to the White House as I write this message.  Blindness related products 
> are listed at least four times.
> 
> I just returned from the 2012 Chemistry Camp.  It was outstanding as usual. 
> Let us all support the future of California Chemistry Camp through the Catch 
> Our Dreams fundraising campaign.
> 
> Hey Hey Hoby!
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Riccobono,Mark (by way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)" 
> <MRiccobono at nfb.org>
> To: <nfbnet-master-list at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 04, 2012 7:37 PM
> Subject: [Nfbnet-master-list] White House Highlights STEM Innovators in 
> theDisability Community as "Champions of Change"
> 
> 
> >
> > THE WHITE HOUSE
> >
> > Office of Communications
> >
> > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> >
> > May 7, 2012
> >
> >
> >
> > White House Highlights STEM Innovators in the Disability Community as 
> > "Champions of Change"
> >
> > WASHINGTON, DC - On Monday, May 7th, the White House will honor 14 
> > individuals as Champions of Change for leading the fields of science, 
> > technology, engineering, and math for people with disabilities in 
> > education and employment.
> >
> > "STEM is vital to America's future in education and employment, so equal 
> > access for people with disabilities is imperative, as they can contribute 
> > to and benefit from STEM," said Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the 
> > President for Disability Policy. "The leaders we've selected as Champions 
> > of Change are proving that when the playing field is level, people with 
> > disabilities can excel in STEM, develop new products, create scientific 
> > inventions, open successful businesses, and contribute equally to the 
> > economic and educational future of our country."
> >
> >
> >
> > The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama's 
> > Winning the Future initiative. Each week, a different sector is 
> > highlighted and groups of Champions, ranging from educators to 
> > entrepreneurs to community leaders, are recognized for the work they are 
> > doing to serve and strengthen their communities.
> >
> >
> >
> > To watch this event live, visit www.whitehouse.gov/live at 1:30 pm ET on 
> > May 7th.
> >
> >
> >
> > The White House "Champions of Change" are:
> >
> >
> >
> > Ralph Braun is the founder and CEO of The Braun Corporation. Diagnosed 
> > with Spinal Muscular Atrophy in 1947, he began using a wheelchair for 
> > mobility. Determined to maintain his independence, he engineered the 
> > world's first motorized scooter and followed with the first accessible 
> > vehicle a few years later. The company grew substantially over the next 
> > decades, and today, The Braun Corporation is the worldwide leader of 
> > wheelchair accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts in the mobility 
> > industry. What started as a part-time business operated from his parents' 
> > garage has grown into an international corporation with over 800 
> > employees. Ralph is now 71 years old and is the father of five adult 
> > children. He still lives and runs The Braun Corporation from his hometown 
> > of Winamac, Indiana with his wife, Melody.
> >
> >
> >
> > Joseph Sullivan is president of Duxbury Systems, Inc., a small company 
> > that has specialized in software for braille since its founding in 1975, 
> > and which now employs two blind people and which provides braille 
> > translation software for more than 130 languages worldwide.  He has also 
> > served on many braille-related committees, including the Literary Braille 
> > and Computer Braille Committees of the Braille Authority of North America, 
> > was chair of the technical design subcommittee of the Unified English 
> > Braille (UEB) project of the International Council on English Braille 
> > (ICEB), and currently serves on the UEB Maintenance Committee of ICEB. 
> > Joe believes that braille is the key to literacy for blind persons, that 
> > literacy is the key to an informed citizenry, and that an informed 
> > citizenry is essential to civilization.
> >
> >
> >
> > University of North Texas (UNT) Biochemistry graduate student Nasrin Taei 
> > is developing a model peptide system to investigate the effects of 
> > mutations that cause sudden cardiac arrest in young adults. Her model 
> > system will be used for testing potential candidate drugs that ameliorate 
> > the structural effects of heart disease causing mutations. Nasrin is a 
> > member of Phi Theta Kappa an international honor society. As a STEM model, 
> > she tutored at the community college and mentored high school students, 
> > which led to her recognition at UNT as a Soaring Eagle. Nasrin is being 
> > honored as a Champion of Change for her humanitarianism and contributions 
> > toward discovering a treatment for heart disease and making a better 
> > future for people around the globe.
> >
> >
> >
> > Maria Dolores Cimini, Ph.D. is the Assistant Director for Prevention and 
> > Program Evaluation at the University at Albany Counseling Center and has 
> > served as the Principal Investigator for over six million dollars in 
> > behavioral health projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, 
> > the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the 
> > U.S. Department of Education during the past decade. As a 
> > scientist-practitioner, Dr. Cimini has been active in promoting access to 
> > STEM for students with disabilities, particularly young women with 
> > disabilities, through her work with the American Psychological 
> > Association's Women with Disabilities in STEM Education Project for which 
> > she serves as Co-Chair and her mentoring of students and early career 
> > scientists on a national scale. Through her own experience as a scientist 
> > with a disability, she is helping our nation identify and enhance 
> > facilitators and address barriers to STEM education and career success for 
> > people with disabilities. Dr. Cimini is being honored as a Champion of 
> > Change for her work in enhancing access to the STEM disciplines by 
> > students with disabilities through her research, leadership, and mentoring 
> > efforts.
> >
> >
> >
> > As a professional and a parent, Virginia Stern has been working for more 
> > than four decades to raise expectations of persons with disabilities, 
> > their families, educators, and employers, especially employers in science, 
> > technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Since 1977 she was a 
> > guiding force of the Project on Science, Technology and Disability of the 
> > American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She recognized 
> > that talented students with disabilities needed more than legislation and 
> > STEM degrees to gain employment in their chosen fields. In 1996 Mrs. Stern 
> > and her colleagues developed the flagship program, Entry Point!, to 
> > provide paid internships and develop career skills in the private and 
> > public sectors for students with disabilities in STEM. Hundreds of Entry 
> > Point! alumni have joined and continue to advance in the STEM workforce of 
> > the nation.
> >
> >
> >
> > Steve Jacobs is President of IDEAL Group. Steve is dedicated to enhancing 
> > the accessibility of STEM curriculum for students with disabilities. 
> > Steve's company offers software that translates printed STEM materials 
> > into digital formats for conversion into speech and Braille.  Steve's 
> > company also developed fully-accessible STEM-enabled eBook reading 
> > software. Over the past 3-1/2 years, Steve's company has become one of the 
> > world's largest developer of mobile accessibility applications with five 
> > million installations in 136 countries. Steve is also working with many 
> > institutions to tech-transfer their STEM-related work to mobile platforms. 
> > These institutions include Smith-Kettlewell's Video Description R&D 
> > Center, University of Oregon's Mathematics eText Research Center, and 
> > Georgia Tech wireless RERC and sonification lab. Steve is a 1973 graduate 
> > of Ohio State University. Steve and wife Pauline have been married for 37 
> > years. Pauline and Steve have two daughters, Shana and Jessica, and a 
> > granddaughter Brooke Christine... who is Steve's boss.
> >
> >
> >
> > Rafael San Miguel began his career at NASA working on the Space Shuttle 
> > program, and has spent the past 23 years as a scientist for The Coca-Cola 
> > Company.  He also serves as a board member of the Atlanta Speech School, 
> > an 80-year old private institution focused on meeting the needs of those 
> > with speech and language based disabilities.  Rafael, who has been 
> > profoundly deaf since infancy, creates awareness about disability by 
> > focusing on ability as he inspires young people to pursue education in 
> > science and math. Using his unique format that presents science in an 
> > exciting way, he has volunteered at schools both locally and in 
> > communities where he travels by connecting with underserved schools 
> > through the volunteer network of Points of Light. Rafael is now turning 
> > his energies toward a call to action and creating an initiative called the 
> > U.S. Science Project focused on inspiring individual scientists, 
> > businesses, legislators and community leaders to scale efforts for 
> > engaging in impact-driven volunteerism to begin to fill the science 
> > deficit in our nation through a volunteer Science Corps.
> >
> >
> >
> > David H. Rose, EdD, is a developmental neuropsychologist and educator 
> > whose primary focus is on the development of new technologies for 
> > learning. In 1984, Dr. Rose co-founded CAST, a not-for-profit research and 
> > development organization whose mission is to improve education, for all 
> > learners, through universal design for learning (UDL). Dr. Rose also 
> > teaches at Harvard's Graduate School of Education where he has been on the 
> > faculty for more than 25 years. He is the author or editor of numerous 
> > books and articles on UDL, and the winner of awards from the Smithsonian 
> > Museum, the Tech Museum, and others.
> >
> >
> >
> > Christine Reich is Director of Research and Evaluation at the Museum of 
> > Science, Boston, one of the world's largest science centers. The Museum of 
> > Science brings science, technology, engineering, and math to about 1.5 
> > million visitors a year through its dynamic programs and interactive 
> > exhibits. As Director of Research and Evaluation, Christine oversees a 
> > department that conducts research and evaluation studies related to 
> > various aspects of the Museum experience, but her passion and expertise 
> > focus on researching ways to advance the inclusion of people with 
> > disabilities in museum learning. Prior to her current position, Christine 
> > worked as a museum educator and an exhibit planner, specializing in the 
> > development of museums exhibitions and programs that are inclusive of 
> > people with disabilities.
> >
> >
> >
> > George Kerscher began his IT innovations in 1987 and coined the term 
> > "print disabled."  George is dedicated to developing technologies that 
> > make information not only accessible, but also fully functional in the 
> > hands of persons who are blind or who have a print disability. He believes 
> > properly designed information systems can make all information accessible 
> > to all people and is working to push evolving technologies in this 
> > direction. As Secretary General of the DAISY Consortium and President of 
> > the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), Kerscher is a 
> > recognized international leader in document access.  In addition, Kerscher 
> > is the Senior Officer of Accessible Technology at Learning Ally in the 
> > USA.  He chairs the DAISY/NISO Standards committee, and serves on the USA 
> > National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) Board.
> >
> >
> >
> > As a child in the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind in 
> > 1949, John Boyer found that contemporary scientific material in braille 
> > was almost non-existent. John has never lost the sense of frustration he 
> > felt when the braille resources available to him were insufficient to 
> > satisfy his hunger for more science education. John believes that is the 
> > motive for his life's work. He obtained a master's degree in Computer 
> > science, with a minor in electronics engineering at the University of 
> > Wisconsin in 1980. His first company was a Braille publishing enterprise 
> > which served an international client base. Abilitiessoft, Inc., his 
> > current company, creates open source adaptive software which makes Web 
> > pages available to blind persons through a Braille display. The current 
> > project, BrailleBlaster, will allow the integration of text with Braille 
> > graphics such as maps and graphs into a format accessible to blind people.
> >
> >
> >
> > Dr. Dimitri Kanevsky is a Research staff member in the Speech and Language 
> > Algorithms Department at the IBM T.J.Watson Research Center. Prior to 
> > joining IBM, he worked at a number of prestigious centers for higher 
> > mathematics, including the Max Planck Institute in Germany and the 
> > Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1979, he 
> > invented a multi-channel vibration based hearing aid, and founded a 
> > company to produce and market this device. He also developed the first 
> > uses for speech recognition as a communication aid for deaf users over the 
> > telephone, for which he received an award from the National Search for 
> > Computing Applications from John Hopkins to Assist Persons with 
> > Disabilities. In 1998 Dr. Kanevsky introduced the first remote 
> > transcription stenographic services over the Internet, and created the 
> > ViaScribe product speech recognition concept and system that allows 
> > automatic transcription of lectures in real-time and the creation of 
> > multimedia notes. At IBM he has been responsible for developing the first 
> > Russian automatic speech recognition system, as well as key projects for 
> > embedding speech recognition in automobiles and broadcast transcription 
> > systems. He currently holds 152 US patents and was granted the title of 
> > Master Inventor IBM in 2002 , 2005 and 2010. His conversational biometrics 
> > based security patent was recognized by MIT, Technology Review Magazine, 
> > as one of five most influential patents for 2003. His work on Extended 
> > Baum-Welch algorithm in speech, another initiative for embedding speech 
> > recognition in automobiles and his work on conversational biometrics was 
> > recognized as science accomplishment  in 2002 , 2004 and 2008 by the 
> > Director of Research at IBM . In 2005 Dimitri Kanevsky received an 
> > Honorary degree (Doctor of Laws, honoris causa) from the University 
> > College of Cape Breton.  He was elected a member  of  the Word Technology 
> > Network in 2004 and was a Chairperson of IT Software Technology session at 
> > Word Technology Network Summit 2005 in San-Francisco, Calif. He also 
> > organized a special session on Large Scale Optimization at ICASSP 2012 in 
> > Japan.
> >
> >
> >
> > Henry Wedler is a graduate student at the University of California, Davis, 
> > working towards his Ph.D. in organic chemistry. Inspired by programs 
> > offered by the National Federation of the Blind in high school and with 
> > encouragement from professors, colleagues and others, Henry gained the 
> > confidence to challenge and refute the mistaken belief that STEM fields 
> > are too visual and, therefore, impractical for blind people.  Henry is not 
> > only following his own passion; he is working hard to develop the next 
> > generation of scientists by founding and teaching at an annual chemistry 
> > camp for blind and low-vision high school students. Chemistry Camp 
> > demonstrates to these students, by example and through practice, that 
> > their lack of eyesight should not hold them back from pursuing their 
> > dreams. Henry was nominated by Douglas Sprei of Learning Ally, a nonprofit 
> > that produces accessible audio textbooks for blind and learning disabled 
> > students, which is an indispensable resource that allowed him to excel in 
> > school.
> >
> >
> >
> > Sina Bahram is a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at 
> > North Carolina State University.  His field of research is Human Computer 
> > Interaction (HCI).  Sina's primary interest is the dynamic translation of 
> > interfaces, with an emphasis on innovative environments being used by 
> > persons with visual impairment (PWVI) to facilitate learning, 
> > independence, and exploration.  His other research interests focus on 
> > using AI inspired techniques to solve real-world user-centric problems. 
> > When he is not busy with his academic pursuits, Sina enjoys staying on the 
> > bleeding edge of technology and working with small, high-tech startup 
> > companies.  Sina's passion for his field originally stems from the fact 
> > that he is mostly blind and uses assistive technologies such as a screen 
> > reader to navigate computer systems and technological devices.  After 
> > experimenting in the fields of bioinformatics, privacy policy/law, and 
> > systems security, Sina discovered that his heart lies in helping users of 
> > all capabilities use computer systems more effectively and efficiently. 
> > He has worked in HCI full-time ever since.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Nfbnet-master-list mailing list
> > Nfbnet-master-list at nfbnet.org 
> 
> 
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