6. Jessica Garries: on pediatric exoskeletons, R&D industry of assistive technologies, and what makes an innovation successful

Jessica Garries (LinkedIn) received her BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington. During her undergraduate capstone project for the Engineering Innovation in Health class, she and her classmates got to work on transforming an existing exoskeleton for individuals with stroke from Cadence Biomedical into a pediatric solution for children with cerebral palsy - PlayGait. Jessica’s capstone team later patented the exoskeleton and she continued to develop it during her Master’s degree, receiving $95,000 in funding to support her work. Her work with PlayGait didn’t stop even after Jessica joined Orthocare Innovations, a Seattle-based R&D company focused on developing providing prosthetic, orthotic, and rehabilitation solutions. In this episode, we covered her path to assistive technologies, doing research in an industry setting, and various aspects that go into making an innovation successful.

This episode is powered by:

• ⁠CREATE ⁠(the Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences) at the University of Washington
• ⁠RESNA ⁠(the Rehabilitation Engineering and assistive technology Society of North America)
• ⁠NIDILRR ⁠ARRT Training grant 90ARCP0005-01-00

The transcript for this episode can be found ⁠here⁠.