AccessComputing is pleased to announce that the 2024 AccessComputing Capacity Building Award is given to Vinod Namboodiri and Nils Hakansson for their work in the development of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator titled “Track H: Enhancing Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.” A NSF Convergence Accelerator is a program that is meant to speed up use-inspired research into practice through a two-phase process. Each track has a fairly narrow focus. In this case Track H focused on accessibility. The teams that win awards in phase 1 are expected to make significant progress in two years. A subset of successful teams from phase 1 are chosen to continue their work in phase 2 to bring their solution to the marketplace.
Vinod and Nil helped organize online workshops in May of 2021 to develop ideas related to accelerating disability inclusion in workplaces. At the workshop, ideas were presented for use-inspired research that require convergence and are ready for acceleration. Convergence means that teams should be multi-disciplinary and acceleration means the time to market for the idea to become a reality is a few years. Fifteen phase 1 grants were awarded in 2022 and six phase 2 grants were awarded in 2023. Dr. Namboodiri, who represents Lehigh University as an AccessComputing Partner, leads a phase 2 project titled “Visit Unknown Places Confidently: Mapping for Accessible Built Environments (MABLE).” Dr. Hakansson, who represented Wichita State University as an AccessEngineering Partner, is a co-PI on the same grant. Both Drs. Namboodiri and Hakansson have disabilities. Congratulations to both of them.