Mission
CATEA is a multidisciplinary engineering and design research center dedicated to enhancing the health, activity and participation of people with functional limitatons through the application of assistive and universally designed technologies in real world environments, products and devices.
This approach is rooted in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) model of functioning, disability and health, which suggests that context (including the physical environment and technology) accounts for the differences between what individuals are capable of doing (capacity) and their ability to perform activities and to participate in society. While the health implications of the relationship between function, environment, activity and participation is important, it is also highly complex. To address this complexity, CATEA provides an environment that promotes the collaboration of diverse professions, including designers, engineers, computer scientists, social scientists, clinicians and service providers.
These multidisciplinary efforts are manifest in CATEA’s two Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) on Workplace Accommodations and Wheeled Mobility funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. The 5-year, $4.75 million projects represent two of only 22 similar Center’s nationwide and support a number of faculty and students from a variety of disciplines within COA, Georgia Tech and affiliated Universities and Healthcare facilities, including Duke University, Georgia State, University of Pittsburgh, Syracuse University, Shepherd Center, Atlanta VA and Emory University.
CATEA’s Accessible Media and Education initiatives include funding from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. These projects support faculty and students pursuing research in instructional technology, online and distance education, web accessibility and usability, and traditional pedagogy.
Organizationally, CATEA has four laboratories. Dr. Sprigle’s Assistive Technology Lab, which includes the mobility RERC, the Work Laboratory headed by Karen Milchus, which includes the Work RERC, Jon Sanford’s Universal Design Laboratory, which focuses on environmental access for all individuals across products, spaces, and technologies; and the Accessible Media and Education lab, which pursues research in digital and online media, with an emphasis on education and training, headed by Robert Todd. The Rehabilitation Engineering Group performs research and develops products for persons with mobility limitations. Research activities include the study of wheelchair and cushion use in everyday life, prevention of pressure ulcers, and standardized tests of wheelchair cushion performance, Product development activities focus on both diagnostic medical devices and assistive technology. The Work Laboratory identifies, develops and promotes new assistive and universally designed technologies that maximize independence and participation of people with disabilities in the workplace. Activities include studying the use and effectiveness of accommodations, investigating the impact of policy on access to and utilization of accommodations, and the development of new work accommodations, including universally designed workstations and cognitive aids.
CATEA staff support COA’s academic programs through course offerings in ID and Architecture that focus on Human-Centered Design, Universal Design and Research Methods; serving as advisors on dissertation and thesis projects; and through research assistantships for graduate students who are interested in pursuing areas of research related to CATEA’s mission.