MOBILITY UNLIMITED - Key Persons
Aki Taguchi represented Japan at three consecutive Paralympic Games - Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, and London 2012. She participated in the pitch presentations for Tokyo to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Currently, Aki works in the Japanese shipping and logistics company NYK Line and serves in multiple roles at the Tokyo Organizing committee of the Olympic and Paralympic games, including as Director of the Paralympians Association of Japan, a panel member for the Athlete's Committee, the Tokyo 2020 Emblems Selection Committee, the Tokyo 2020 Mascot Selection Committee, and as a brand advisor.
Rory A. Cooper, PhD, serves as the FISA/Paralyzed Veterans of America Chair and Distinguished Professor of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences' Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, and professor of Bioengineering, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also founding director and Veterans Affairs senior research career scientist of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories, a Rehabilitation Research and Development Center of Excellence of the Department of Veterans Affairs in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh.
Cooper has authored or co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed journal publications, co-edited three books and authored two others, Rehabilitation Engineering Applied to Mobility and Manipulation and Wheelchair Selection and Configuration. He has 20 patents awarded or pending. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and Biomolecular Science and Engineering. Cooper has served as distinguished lecturer and keynote speaker on numerous occasions, was named an inaugural AAAS-Lemelson Foundation Invention Ambassador and honorary professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Xi'an Jiatong University.
Job Titles:
- United States / Toyota Research
Eric Krotkov, PhD, serves as the Chief Science Officer of the Toyota Research Institute, where he directs research for the company with responsibility for Robotics, Accelerated Materials Discovery and Design and the University program.
Before joining Toyota, Dr. Krotkov founded Griffin Technologies, a consulting and software firm specializing in robotics and machine perception. From 2001 to 2015, Griffin consulted on robotics and for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other Government agencies.
From 1999 to 2001, Dr. Krotkov served as Vice President for Software at Cytometrics, a medical imaging technology start-up..From 1997 to 1999, Dr. Krotkov served as a program manager at DARPA, where he created the Tactical Mobile Robotics program. The TMR program developed man-packable robots used for defusing road-side bombs in areas of armed conflict including Iraq and Afghanistan, and made early investments in Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). From 1988 to 1997, as a faculty member of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Krotkov taught and researched computer vision, machine perception, and mobile robotics, with a focus on planetary rovers.
Dr. Krotkov earned his Ph.D. degree in Computer and Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania, for pioneering work in active computer vision. Dr. Krotkov earned his B.A. degree from Haverford College.
Kay (Kyunghwan) Kim, PhD is the President of NT Robot,Co in South Korea.
He graduated from Yonsei University in electrical engineering in 1992 (B.E.). He received M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo in electrical engineering in 1994 and 1997 respectively. He was a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in mechanical engineering and at Texas A &M University in computer science from 1997 to 1999. Back to Korea, he worked for Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) as senior research scientist from 1999 to 2002. He was marketing director of Wooshin Mechatronics Co. from 2002 to 2003.
He established NT Research Inc. in Jan 2004 and has worked for the company that was renamed as NT Robot, Co. His current business interests include rehabilitation robot, medical robot and smart factory.
Lloyd is a professional rehabilitation engineer who has been working in Assistive Technology (AT) for over 25 years. As a user of AT, he has always had an interest in improvements in technology and its application to enhanced participation. He has been actively involved in most aspects of the AT sector nationally and internationally, including several years leading development work in wheelchair and seating standards. Lloyd joined the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) that is transforming the way services for younger people with disability are funded in Australia in August 2015, though his contribution to Mobility Unlimited is in a personal capacity.
Lloyd is actively involved in collaborative work to improve access to quality innovative AT across the world. He chairs the Board of Motivation Australia working with partners in the SE Asian/Pacific region and has been involved with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE) initiative since its inception.
Job Titles:
- President - Elect for the Rehabilitation Engineering
Mary Ellen Buning is the President-elect for the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA). She recently retired from the University of Louisville in Kentucky where she was a seating and mobility specialist in the Department of Neurological Surgery and the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
She owns a Master's Degree in Occupational Therapy and Assistive Technology from the Colorado State University. She then pursued a fellowship and Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Pittsburgh.
Job Titles:
- Trust
- Trust / Ireland / United States
Eric LeGrand is an activist and advocate for for individuals living with spinal cord injury and paralysis. He is a Rutgers University football star who, in October 2010, sustained a spinal cord injury at his C3- C4 vertebrae during a game at MetLife Stadium. While the initial prognosis was grim, Eric demonstrated his tenacity and strength by shattering all expectations for his recovery and rehabilitation.
After graduating from Rutgers University with honours, giving the commemorative speech during the commencement ceremony, Eric has worked as both a motivational speaker and sports analyst. Eric also released his first book in the fall of 2012, titled BELIEVE: My Faith And The Tackle That Changed my Life. A well known figure in the American Football world, Eric also advocates for improved safety measures in the NFL.
Eric has harnessed the national spotlight he attracted from his injury to give back to the community and inspire those living with and impacted by paralysis. This has included setting up Team LeGrand in September 2013. Team LeGrand works to help individuals living with spinal cord injury and their families by supporting quality of life initiatives and emerging therapies to find cures for SCI. In 2017, Eric succeeded in his initial goal when Team LeGrand hit the $1 million mark of total funds raised.
Eric has been recognized by numerous awards including Sports Illustrated's "The Best Moment of 2011", the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the ESPY Awards and the WWE Warrior Award. Most recently, Eric launched a web series with Fox Sports called Mission Possible, which focuses on individuals with disabilities overcoming adversity.
Matthew Reeve joined the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Board of Directors in 2006. Since then he has played an integral role in driving the Reeve mission forward, frequently serving as a spokesperson whilst also spearheading strategic partnerships with like-minded organizations abroad. A film director and screenwriter by profession, he is a graduate of the NYU dual degree MBA/MFA program and currently resides in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Reeve Foundation is simultaneously committed to discovering cures for paralysis and advancing the care of people living with immobility. There are currently over five million Americans living with paralysis, including 1.3 million with spinal cord injuries.
Job Titles:
- Director
- United Kingdom / Journalist
Sophie is both an ambassador and a judge for the Mobility Unlimited Challenge.
Sophie Morgan was born in 1985, Sussex. At the age of 18, Sophie acquired a spinal cord injury as a result of a car crash, leaving her paralyzed from the chest down.Since then she has gone on to establish a diverse and successful portfolio career; spanning across various creative industries.
She is a Television Presenter and reporter, and currently presents a property series, current affairs program, makes documentaries and reports Live Sports events such as the Paralympics.
Sophie is also director of a property investment & development company and is developing two app's to launch in 2018.
She is also works as an Artist and Portraitist in London, and runs a small boutique arts company called Love Lines.
In addition to this Sophie is an award-winning campaigner, Patron of Scope, Ambassador for Aira Wheels and Batec mobility and was voted in the top 100 most influential people with a disability two years running.
Job Titles:
- Pr. Linamara Battistella / See Profile
Preethi Srinivasan is the co-founder of Soulfree, a writer, poet, mouth painter, a social changemaker, spiritual seeker and an inspirational speaker, who was awarded the Kalpana Chawla Award by the government of Tamil Nadu For Courage and Daring Enterprise in 2017.
After learning about women with spinal cord injury who are forced to commit suicide by their own families, she began Soulfree, an organisation that is working to spread awareness about spinal cord injury. By setting up short-term and long-term rehabilitation centres around India, Soulfree's goal is to provide the support system needed to ensure that persons with spinal-cord injuries and other severe disabilities are able to lead a life of dignity and purpose.
Sandra Khumalo is a South African Rower. She competed in both the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics.
In 2005, at the age of 23, Sandra was injured in a car accident. The accident damaged her spinal cord and left her lower body paralyzed.
She qualified to compete at the 2012 Paralympics, held in London, in the women's single sculls by winning the silver medal at the final qualification regatta in Belgrade Serbia.
Tatyana McFadden is considered the fastest woman in the world.
She has 17 Paralympic medals (including seven gold medals), 17 World Major Marathon wins including four consecutive Grand Slams (first place in Boston, Chicago, NYC and London marathons in the same year) and has broken five world records in track and field.
She was named to the Forbes "30 Under 30" list in 2017, selected as the Best Female Athlete of the 2016 Paralympic Games by the United States Olympic Committee, and received the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award at the 2016 Paralympic Games for outstanding performance, overcoming adversity, and exemplifying sportsmanship.
Additionally, in 2016 she received an ESPY Award as the Best Female Athlete with a Disability and was selected by Marie Claire for the "first class" of Young Women's Honors. In 2015 she received the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award from the Women's Sports Foundation, the Juan Antonio Samaranch Disabled Athlete Award from the International Olympic Committee, and was named Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability by the Laureus Foundation.