Keynote Speaker: Sara J. Czaja, PhD

Sara J. Czaja is Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and Industrial Engineering at the University of Miami. She is also the Co-Director of the Center on Aging at the University of Miami and the Director of the Center on Research and Education for Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE). CREATE is funded by the National Institute on Aging and it involves collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology and Florida State University. The focus of CREATE is on making technology more accessible, useful, and usable for older adult populations.

Dr. Czaja has extensive experience in aging research and a long commitment to developing strategies to improve the quality of life for older adults. Her research interests include: aging and cognition, caregiving, human-computer interaction, training, and functional assessment. Dr. Czaja is very well published in the field of aging and has written numerous book chapters and scientific articles. She recently co-authored a book with other members of the CREATE team concerning the design of technology for older adult populations. In addition, she is Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and the Gerontological Society of America. She is the past chair of the Risk Prevention and Behavior Scientific Review Panel of the National Institutes of Health.

Keynote Speaker: Majd Alwan, PhD

Majd Alwan, a noted researcher and authority on aging-services technologies, is the vice president of the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST). Alwan is responsible for creating and leading a network of technology companies, providers and research institutions focused on technology solutions for an aging society. He previously served as director of CAST.

Prior to joining CAST, Dr. Alwan served as an assistant professor and a the director of the Robotics and Eldercare Technologies Program at the University of Virginia's Medical Automation Research Center. His research interests there included passive functional and health assessment, biomedical instrumentation, medical automation, as well as eldercare and assistive technologies. He chairs the Funding Aging Services Technologies committee and is a member of the IEEE’s Engineering in Medicine and Biology, and Robotics and Automation Societies. Dr. Alwan is is also a member of IEEE-USA’s Medical Technology Policy Committee and the Geriatric Care Workgroup.

Dr. Alwan received his PhD in intelligent robotics from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, a master's degree with distinction in control engineering from Bradford University, and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Damascus University.

William Beers, PhD

Dr. Beers joined GE Lighting (now GE Appliance & Lighting) in 1983 after receiving his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from Iowa State University. His work has been primarily in lighting phosphors but also includes phosphors for other applications (LEDs, persistent phosphors), other fluorescent lamp materials, and fluorescent lamp design. The work has resulted in implementation of new phosphor syntheses, quality improvements, cost reductions, and several new product introductions in both North America and Europe.

His most recent product is the CFL/LFL Revealâ lamp. In addition to synthesis, his expertise is in powder x-ray diffraction, vacuum UV spectroscopy, experimental design, and most recently the relationship between lamp spectra and human reaction such as color rendering. Dr. Beers has 30+ publications/conference proceedings, 30+ issued U.S. patents and 10 U.S. patents in process.

Mariana Figueiro, PhD

Dr. Mariana Figueiro is associate professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and light and health program director at Rensselaer’s Lighting Research Center. She holds a bachelor’s in architectural engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and a master’s in lighting and a doctorate in multidisciplinary science from Rensselaer. Her master’s and PhD dissertation research focused on the area of human circadian response to light.

Dr. Figueiro is the recipient of the 2007 NYSTAR James D. Watson Award, the 2008 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, and the 2010 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute James M. Tien ’66 Early Career Award for Faculty honoring productivity in both teaching and research. She is former chair and current member of the IESNA Light & Human Health Committee.

Moira Fordyce, MD, MB ChB, FRCPE, AGSF

Moira Fordyce, a geriatrician, is adjunct clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, chair of the Executive Committee of the California Coalition for Caregivers, and vice-chair of the American Geriatric Society’s Public Education Committee. She is a member of the California Department of Aging Assistive Technology (AT) Coalition which is exploring how best to use AT to promote optimal function and independence for the disabled of all ages and for older adults.

Dr. Fordyce has practiced geriatrics, hospice, home and nursing home care for more than 24 years in America. Before that she came from 14 years of a busy, diverse medical practice in Scotland and England. The first edition of her paperback pocket textbook on geriatrics and end of life care, “Geriatric Pearls” is sold out. She is currently working on a second edition.

Patricia A. Higgins, PhD, RN

Patricia A. Higgins is an Associate Professor in the FPB School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, and a Clinical Researcher in the Geriatric Research Education Clinical Center at the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Her clinical background is in critical care and public health nursing and her program of research is focused on improving the health of adults with chronic illness. Early research efforts investigated factors associated with Adult Failure to Thrive Syndrome and from these descriptive studies, Dr. Higgins began focusing on older adults’ sleep-wake patterns and their relationship to the 24-hour light-dark cycle.

She currently is working with an interdisciplinary team that is developing and testing new types of circadian lighting interventions which have the potential to more effectively treat older adults’ sleep-wake disturbances.

Thomas Hornick, MD

Dr. Thomas Hornick is section Chief of Geriatrics and Associate Director of the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. His career has been dedicated to providing care for older adults, with a special interest in people in who have dementia syndrome.

He has been collaborating on lighting studies with Dr. Patricia Higgins, Dr. Mariana Figueiro, and General Electric for the past four years. Among other projects, this team developed and tested a new lighting system for residents of the dementia ward Community Living Center at the Brecksville VA Medical Center.

Wyatt Newman, PhD

Dr. Wyatt Newman is a professor in the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Case Western Reserve University and a registered professional engineer. His research is in the areas of mechatronics, robotics and computational intelligence, in which he has 11 patents and over 100 technical publications. He received the S.B. degree from Harvard College in Engineering Science, the S.M. degree in Mechanical Engineering from M.I.T. in thermal and fluid sciences, the M.S.E.E. degree from Columbia University in control theory and network theory, and the PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from M.I.T. in design and control.

Dr. Newman spent eight years in industrial research at Philips Laboratories (Briarcliff Manor, NY), engaged in electromechanical design and control. He joined Case in 1988, and in 1992 he was named an NSF Young Investigator in robotics. Dr. Newman also has held research appointments at the Cleveland Clinic, the Cleveland V.A. Medical Center, visiting scientist at Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium, Eindhoven, The Netherlands; visiting faculty at Sandia National Laboratories, Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center Albuquerque, NM; NASA summer faculty fellow at NASA Glenn Research Center; and visiting fellow at Princeton University, Center for Integrative Genomics. In 2007, Wyatt was named the first Herbold Fellow at Case.

In 2007, Dr. Newman was the team leader of Case's entry in the DARPA Grand Challenge—a race involving autonomous robotic vehicles navigating among traffic in urban settings (see urbanchallenge.case.edu). Prof. Newman was recognized in Ohio Magazine in 2008 as an outstanding teacher, and is also an awardee of the Woody Flowers award for mentorship in FIRST robotics.

Alan D. Sadowsky, PhD

Dr. Alan D. Sadowsky joined MorseLife, Inc. in October 2000 and he serves as the Executive Director of both the Loring Institute for Geriatric Research and Education and MorseLife Home Care, Inc./Kramer Senior Services Agency. The Institute’s primary interest areas include workplace innovation, education and the application of technology to senior services.

In its first ten years of operation, The Institute secured more than $4 million in grants from 18 funding sources. MorseLife Home Care/Kramer Senior Service Agency has also experienced enormous growth in all areas of service including, Medicare-skilled nursing and therapy services, home health, adult day care, meals-on-wheels and the award winning Homebound Mitzvah Program.

Dr. Sadowsky is a frequent lecturer at local, regional and national meetings regarding research projects aimed at establishing best practices in senior care delivery. He has also served as President of the Area Agency on Aging - Palm Beach County Treasure Coast. Dr. Sadowsky received his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Pennsylvania, and his Masters and Doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Alan has lived in Palm Beach County since 1985 and was previously the Executive Director of St. Mary’s Rehabilitation Center (1985-1997), a multi-disciplinary outpatient rehabilitation center campus located in the Intracoastal Health Systems complex.

Thomas Seder, PhD

Dr. Seder is the Lab Group Manager of the Human Machine Interface group within the Vehicle Development Research Lab at General Motors. He is responsible for leading research for development of next generation interfaces that enable safer, more efficient and pleasurable human interactions with GM vehicle interiors. This technical domain is comprised of User Centered Design process development, use of Design Language for brand differentiation and harmonious experience, in addition to the traditional focus of information management, display and control, and user human factors/usability testing. One of his current research thrusts is application of visual human factors, an understanding of age related human visual system depreciation, cognitive decline and the results of aging driver ethnographic research to devise display formats and cockpit designs that compensates for age-related visual and cognitive depreciation.

Dr. Seder began his career at the Rockwell Science Center where he developed high energy density materials for use as propellants and chemical laser fuels. From there he transferred to Rockwell Collins to lead organizations in the development of avionics HMI and display technologies. There, he ascended to the position of Air Transport Director of Technology and Product Planning. Dr. Seder then joined Guardian Industries Science Center as the Director of Sputtered Films Technology, leading an organization charged with developing thin film optics technologies and products. Finally, he was the Director of Advanced Technology at Guardian prior to joining GM in 2006.

Anthony Sterns, PhD

Dr. Anthony Sterns serves as the Vice President of Research of Creative Action, LLC in Akron, Ohio. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in D.M.A. and M.B.A. programs at the University of Maryland, University College; a Senior Lecturer for the College of Business Administration at The University of Akron and Fellow of the Institute for Life-span Development and Gerontology; and is a Visiting Associate Professor and the Research and Statistical Consultant for the College of Nursing at Kent State University. Dr. Sterns received his undergraduate degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan. His graduate educational focus has been in the areas of industrial psychology, organizational development, communication, management and decision–making. Dr. Sterns received his doctorate in the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology with a graduate certificate in Gerontology in 2001.

Dr. Sterns has worked on many Federally-funded research projects and has served as a principal investigator. Funding agencies have included the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Dr. Sterns is a contributor to 11 U.S. Patents.

Creative Action has turned those patents into a number of low-technology and high-technology products that are now distributed throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan and elsewhere worldwide. These gerontechnology products include the Memory Magic Program, a therapeutic group activity, and the RealHELP™ System, a home and institution paired wander prevention system, both for persons living with dementia. Currently, Dr. Sterns in collaboration with Summa Health Systems and supported by funding from the NIA, is developing a smartphone-based medication reminding and medical data gathering system. The system, called iRxReminder™, allows researchers to easily deploy medication and study task reminding, customized surveys, and podcast-style education, monitored in real time, to patients and study participants carry mobile technology in the community.