Associate Professor Lauren Kark is the Associate Head (Education) at the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering and the academic lead of the Assistive Tech Hub. We talk to Lauren about the transformative power of the Assistive Tech Hub.
Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
I am currently the Associate Head (Education) at the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering. I am also the academic lead of the Assistive Tech Hub, which partners groups of students with end users to co-design bespoke pieces of assistive technology. I am an education-focused academic who enjoys creating authentic educational opportunities that have social impact. Prior to initiating the Assistive Tech Hub, I worked with Engineering World Health to create programs that saw our students repair more than 1,000 pieces of medical equipment in hospitals throughout regional and rural areas of Cambodia and Uganda.
What excites you most about the Assistive Tech Hub?
There’s a lovely quote from disability advocate Jeff Paradee that says, “With the right technology, we will have a world where “I can’t” becomes “I can”….but that technology you can only get if someone makes it.” The Assistive Tech Hub does just this.
What excites me most about the Assistive Tech Hub is its potential to transform the lives of our students and the people who we work with. Students create a piece of technology that facilitates participation and, in the process, learn about themselves, about their potential, about their possible impact.
What do you think enables health engineering projects and innovations to succeed?
Stakeholder alignment! Of goals, expectations, language, and timeline.
How do people connect with you?
Via email at lauren.kark@unsw.edu.au
Do you have any interesting resources or articles that you would like to share with readers?
The Assistive Tech Hub is a community where students co-design and prototype an assistive technology with a client with a disability to improve their lifestyle. Read more about the initiative. The Assistive Tech Hub will form a part of Tyree IHealthE’s activities in the UNSW Health Translation Hub at the Randwick Health and Innovation Precinct.
This short video shows the Assistive Tech Hub in action and what engaging in the program means for both participants and students. Second half is coming soon!