James B. Reswick,
PhD
Born: April 16, 1922 -
Ellwood City, PA
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Entry into the AT field:
1958
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How I got into the
field
I first started working in the
rehabilitation field around 1958 when I was an Assoc. Professor in the
Engineering Design Division of the Mechanical Engineering Department at M.I.T.
I also had responsibilities in the Dynamic Analysis and Control Laboratory
(DACL) that was involved in the Meteor Missile Program where I worked with high
pressure gas operated servomechanism control systems. This laboratory was
directed by Professor John Hrones who was, for me, my mentor. One of the Design
projects undertaken by senior students had to do with the design of orthotic
braces and involved an orthopedic surgeon and his staff at the Boston
Metropolitan Hospital who assisted in the instruction of some of the students.
Thus my interest in the field and an understanding of the importance of
collaboration with physicians and allied health persons became rooted in my
mind.
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Important event(s) that influenced
my early decision to get into the assistive technology field
In 1960, my mentor, Prof. Hrones, moved to Case
Institute of Technology in Cleveland as Provost. He recruited me to join him
and I assisted him in the preparation of a proposal to the Ford Foundation that
led to a 9 million dollar grant. Half of these funds were allocated to me to
develop and lead a new laboratory that I named the Engineering Design Center.
This Center attracted students and faculty from the traditional departments to
undertake graduate research that required the design and development of real
systems. Among many engineering design projects that applied assistive device
technology, we built, for quadriplegic patients, the Case Research Arm Aid (it
would be called a robot now) that employed high-pressure air servos and was
controlled by the patient via EMG voltages from shoulder muscles.
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My inspiration and
mentor
I got to know Joseph Traub at
the Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), Anthony Staros at the Veterans
Administration (VA) Prosthetic Center and Bennet Wilson who was Staff Director
of the Committee on Prosthetics and Orthotics (CPRD) of the Nation Academy of
Science (NAS). From the 1950s up through the 1980s these three men worked as a
team to develop and fund collaborative research and development of devices and
systems to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities in North
America and in Europe. Through their efforts, many persons and in many places,
the workers in the field met, developed relationships and exchanged knowledge.
I was fortunate, indeed, to be in the middle of these activities and I owe a
great debt of gratitude to these three men. And it is interesting to note that
they were part of the group of five persons who conceived of, and founded,
RESNA. (The other two were myself and Doug Hobson.)
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My memorable successes and
greatest contributions to the field
As for contributions to the field, I would put
having provided places and environments that attracted significant numbers of
students and researchers to achieve their own potentials and become committed
to devoting their own lives to serving the needs of persons with disabilities.
My own technical contributions have been real but modest. I am proud to have
had a role in the creation of RESNA and having served as its first president.
The office of RESNA for the first year consisted of mine at Rancho Los Amigos
Hospital in Los Angeles and that of Jan Little in Chicago. That RESNA survived
that year and found support for following years was perhaps one of my most
significant contributions.
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My role within RESNA and what it
gave back to me
I spoke above about
the 5 persons who created RESNA. We had significant discussions about what the
purpose and nature that RESNA should be. Some suggested that RESNA should be a
"professional" society of engineers collaborating with physicians working to
develop assistive technology. I was working at that time at Rancho where I was
impressed by the effectiveness of the "team" approach wherein physicians,
allied health persons, and engineers formed teams to care for the patients. So
I pushed the idea that RESNA should not be a society where only engineers would
meet to exchange ideas as is the nature of most professional associations but
it should be a unique society that would bring together all the persons who
play roles in the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. The emphasis
should be on assistive devices with concern for all aspects of their
effectiveness including invention, research and development, engineering
design, application, distribution, maintenance and repair. This is why the
original name "Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America" was later
deemed to be inappropriate and was changed to "The Rehabilitation Engineering
and Assistive Technology Society of North America". I was pleased, however, to
see that the two syllable word RESNA survived as an icon for the society. All
of this that I say is to explain that now, over 25 years later, I feel my role
in the formulation of the RESNA concept was, I believe, my most significant
contribution to improving the lives of persons with disabilities and the
effectiveness of those persons who bring this about.
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