Category: Research

Dr. Steven Elmer and his team were recently awarded a $50,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their project entitled “I-Corps: A New Assistive Device for Wheelchair Users”.

As part of the grant, Elmer along with doctoral student Matt Kilgas (KIP) and Mike Morley (Assistant Director of Technology Commercialization, Innovation and Industry Engagement) will participate in the rigorous I-Corps curriculum.  This curriculum consists of a 7 week program to help train scientists and engineers to develop entrepreneurship skills that will lead to the commercialization of technology that has been supported previously by NSF-funded research.   The team will travel to San Francisco for a three day “Kick Off” workshop and return for the final “Lessons Learned” workshop at the end of the program.

This new grant is a result of Dr. Elmer’s continued efforts to provide wheelchair users a means to strengthen upper-extremity muscles and improve their mobility without overtaxing their heart and lungs.  Elmer’s team engineered a rehabilitation device called RENEW-U to provide wheelchair users this opportunity.

* This is the first NSF award for the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology.

Dr. Elmer was selected as a recipient of a $10,000 American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Research Endowment Grant. His project is entitled “RENEW-U! A New Exercise for Individuals with Spinal cord Injury”. Dr. Elmer’s team of mechanical engineering, kinesiology and physical therapy students are collaborating to develop and implement a new exercise modality for manual wheelchair users. This project will help serve as an important stepping stone for a larger study aimed at restoring function and improving health in individuals with spinal cord injury.

The full RENEW-U article can be found here.