TIDAL: Community

Building the TIDAL Network

• We grew the TIDAL network from 270 people at launch to over 540 at the end

• In over 200 organisations

• Spanning UK, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, and Australia.

• From universities, start-ups and established commercial companies, health and third sector organisations, and advocacy groups. 

• Including early career researchers, established academics, clinicians, other practitioners, AT users, entrepreneurs and policy makers.

• Working in disciplines ranging from prosthetics to robotics to biomedical engineering; from AI to materials science to digital fabrication; and from public health to communications to product development. 

Engaging our network: launch event

Our official launch event was on 26th January 2021 aimed at introducing the aims and purpose of TIDAL N+ to our community. We heard from a range of speakers giving different perspectives on the need for a transformative approach to AT. The work done by TIDAL since then responds to the various challenges they identified.

• Wendy Tindale OBE, Director of Innovation at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Clinical Director of NIHR Devices for Dignity Healthcare Technology Co-operative (HTC), set out the challenges involved in identifying and meeting clinical needs for assistive technologies, and the urgent need to build a community that can work together to address these.

• Susie Rogers, Director, Disability Advocate and Paralympic Gold medallist gave a personal perspective on the challenges faced in identifying and meeting user needs within the TIDAL space on a global scale. She emphasised the need for researchers, industry and third sector organisations to work together with users and a whole range of other stakeholders to meet these challenges.

• Paul Fotheringham, Founder and CTO at biomedical start-up 3DLifePrints discussed the need for closer integration of researchers and industry from earliest stages to accelerate the translation of research into practical solutions for real world problems.

• Chapal Khasnabis, Head of WHO’s Access to Assistive Technology and Medical Devices Unit, picked up on the themes raised by Susie Rogers, to give an international perspective focusing on the need to work in cross-disciplinary teams with users and other key stakeholders such as purchasers and suppliers, in order to crack the problems relating to accessibility, usability and affordability that we continue to see with assistive technology in the UK and globally.

Watch the launch event.

Engaging our Network: themed workshops

We held a workshop on each theme to help researchers interested in applying for TIDAL feasibility funding to explore the themes, design their project proposals to align with our aims, and connect with potential collaborators and partners.

Workshop #1 Responsible Engineering

Held online on 27th April (agenda setting) and 28th April (collaboration) 2022. 43 delegates from 21 institutions plus 5 potential partner companies attended.

Speakers

• Callum Watt, Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate at NRS on ‘Design, Manufacture and Distribution and Manufacture of Rehabilitation Aids’.

• Sinead Mitchell, Lecturer in Engineering, Researcher in Sustainable Engineering, National University of Ireland, Galway on ‘Circular economy and future of healthcare manufacturing’.

• Arne Henning Eide, Acting Research Director, SINTEF Digital on ‘A case study on the Norwegian AT system’.

• Mark Miodownik, Professor of Materials and Society, UCL and Director of the UCL Institute of Making on ‘Plastics, Waste and the Circular Economy’.           

• Mikko Koria led a speculative design workshop which together offered an approach to generating innovative ideas that meet end-user needs.

Delegates said:

‘The workshops were excellent, perfect mix of facts, examples and Q&A.’

‘The workshop met the objectives very well.’

‘I liked the overall structure and experience during the tasks in the webinar.’

‘The workshop was structured well. The talks were interesting and the interactive part was very engaging.’

Watch our Responsible Engineering workshop

Workshop #2: DMS (Digital Design and Manufacturing Systems) and Physical Devices

Held online 22nd June 2022 (agenda setting) and 23rd June 2022 (collaboration). 30 delegates attended from 16 institutions plus 7 potential partner organisations including commercial companies and third sector organisations.

Speakers

• Paul Fotheringham, Founder and CTO of 3D LifePrints, a biomedical start-up, on the opportunities and challenges of digital manufacturing systems, including the need for manufacturing and quality control, and the implications of this for implementation.

• Prof Wendy Phillips, Director of the RiHN project on findings from the RiHN projects on the opportunities and challenges of digital manufacturing focusing on manufacture, supply chain, logistics and distribution.

• Dr Christopher Howell, RiHN Innovation lead on ‘Redistributed manufacturing (RDM) in deployed medical operations (DMOs): Mapping the process’.

• Lynn Legg, Occupational Therapist on the users’ perspective: ‘Right AT. Right Patient. Right Time’.

• Sessions exploring the theme of the call, collaboration, the application process and what reviewers would be looking for.

Delegates said:

‘The online board and curated discussion around this and the relevance of certain themes which emerged was incredibly helpful when understanding the requirements of the call but also to help understand the broader challenges in the field of assistive devices.’

‘A good and informative slide show, with all relevant details (about the funding call). The call for proposals was clearly aligned with the talks given and relevant stakeholders were present at the event.’

‘This has given me great start in preparation.’

Watch our DMS workshop

Workshop #3: Sensors, Data Science and Communication Aids

Held in person on 27th October 2022 at Loughborough University London. 26 delegates attended from 12 institutions plus 8 potential partner organisations including commercial companies, start-ups and third sector organisations.

Speakers

• Dr Daniel Hajas, UCL / GDI Hub, on the challenges of innovation in this space from his perspective as an innovator and AT user.

• Dr Aleksandra Vuckovic, Glasgow University, on the research challenges relating to the development of Brain-Computer Interface systems.

• Dr Youngjun Cho, UCL Interaction Centre, on the next generation of artificial intelligence-powered physiological computing for disability technology innovation.

• Professor Trevor Cox, Salford University, on machine learning challenges to improve hearing aids and audio devices for people with a hearing loss.

• Sessions exploring the theme of the call, collaboration, the application process and what reviewers would be looking for.

Delegates said

‘I came as an industry contact and as a disabled end user to make contacts in academia and hear your aims and objectives, and I was very well served.’

‘Very enlightening, the key talks and the networking was really good.’

"A comprehensive introduction and thought-provoking talks. Great opportunities for discussion and workshopping with other attendees.’

‘I look forward to deepening our collaborations on products and projects.’

Supporting the new generation of AT researchers: doctoral colloquiums

• We held 2 doctoral colloquiums – September 2022 and March 2023

• 60 delegates attended – mainly PhD students plus a few ECRs

• 6 guest speakers gave academic, clinical and industry perspectives on AT and shared their personal journeys

• 15 talks and round-table sessions presented by delegates

The aim was to give PhD students an opportunity to:

• Share experiences 

• Give and receive peer support 

• Network with others within and beyond their own field 

• Practise presenting and get supportive feedback 

• Gain insights into the PhD and post-PhD journey

Speakers talked about their research, but also shared their personal experiences of undertaking a PhD and their journeys to their first job. There were also delegate talks in which PhD students presented their work and the challenges they were facing, and received supportive feedback from other delegates. There were also opportunities for structured networking, such as speed networking to help students build their contacts and meet potential future collaborators.

Delegates said:

"I thought the event was great. The structure of the day made networking more natural and easier, and the guests invited to talk were great to listen to."

"The talks organised were interesting, especially the talks regarding post-PhD (industry or academia)."

"The opportunities to network and give/receive support were well facilitated with the speed-networking and delegate tables."

"It was really great to meet other PhD's in the AT world, I am quite early on in my PhD so being able to hear about different experiences was really helpful."

"The entire day was well planned, informative and fun, and I got a lot out of it as a result."

"I really enjoyed the workshop and the collaborative atmosphere. I got a lot out of hearing what others are researching and it has given me a lot to think about in terms of my questions and approach to academia."

"It was a really great day and inspired me a lot."