Moving from naïve to knowledgeable on the road to technology transfer

Three primary factors account for why an unprecedented number of American inventors are focusing their talents on developing assistive technology: (1) the technology market is providing them with an ever-growing collection of new and affordable development tools; (2) there is new legislation concerning (and government money to support) both the social and technological rights of disabled people; and (3) the US population is aging, and therefore increasing the demand for assistive devices. The ultimate goal of these research and development (R and D) efforts is technology transfer, i.e. moving the devices out of the research laboratory and into the hands of consumers. Yet devices invented in Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs), universities, or even small private research laboratories, rarely make it to the commercial market. This paper suggests that a basic incompatibility exists between the talents of those who invent and the skills needed to achieve technology transfer, and suggests ways of dealing with this dilemma.