S. Andrea Sundaram, MA is a senior PhD student in the Dept. of RST at Pitt and expected to graduate and take a postdoc position in one year. Mr. Sundaram worked for six years as a research scientist in the advanced product development group for a Fortune 200 company producing consumer appliances. He is inventor or co-inventor on 25 US patents. His current PhD project is on remote monitoring of seating behaviors of manual wheelchair users. As a person with cervical spinal cord injury and low vision, he uses many mainstream wireless technologies supporting his academic and daily activities.
Current Project(s):
Project Leader, Smart Speaker Training
Co-Investigator, Inclusive Innovation
Fun Tech Fact Questions & Answers:
Q: Mainstream tech device you can’t live without? Why?
A: Personal computer. Although I need both dictation and screenreader software to make it accessible, my computer provides me access to both work and entertainment.
Q: What was your first cell phone?
A: Some candy bar-style Nokia
Q: What mainstream tech device is at the top of your wish list?
A: Virtual reality head mounted display
Q: If you were a mainstream tech device, what would you be, and why?
A: A virtual assistant. I don't actually know the answers, but I can try to find them in a web search.