Skip to content
People and News

Category: Alumni News

Alum Nicole Zaino combines research in biomechanics, assistive technology with world-class Para Nordic skiing

An overhead photo of Nicole Zaino using a sit-ski in a Para Nordic ski race

June 17, 2025 While Nicole Zaino was Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering, her study of biomechanics and assistive technology focused on customized mobility devices and how individuals use and are impacted by mobility aids. Advised by Katherine M. Steele and Heather Feldner, she also served as HuskyADAPT‘s Community Outreach Chair and worked in the IMPACT Collaboratory. Despite the rigors of her work, she knew she needed a physical outlet for stress. Zaino had always been active growing up but had…

With new NIH funding, CREATE postdoc Bethany Sloane continues research for children with cerebral palsy, motor delays

Childrens' books adapted with stick-on bumps for easy page turning.

September 15, 2025 Exploration and self-initiated mobility are known to support growth in learning, communication, social skills, and play. Yet, due to limited training, funding, or access to different types of devices, powered mobility devices are often underused in early intervention and pediatric therapy settings. Bethany Sloane’s research is focused on addressing these issues, to ensure that children under the age of three have opportunities to explore their environments and participate in daily life through mobility. She aims to create…

Spring 2025 Research Showcase

May 30, 2025 The closing event for CREATE’s Community Day 2025, the Research Showcase was co-sponsored by HuskyADAPT. Spring 2025 Research Showcase projects Accessibility from Below Stacy Hsueh, Danielle Van Dusen, Anat Caspi, Jennifer Mankoff An ethnographic study on how low-income and racially diverse disabled families navigate government services to access the assistive technologies they need. Through extended fieldwork at a Seattle nonprofit, we uncovered community-based strategies of care, resistance, and improvisation that families use to reclaim agency. These strategies…

Students: Apply for HuskyADAPT Leadership Positions

April 7, 2025 Being on the leadership team involves approximately 5 hours per week of commitment, though this may vary based on your role and upcoming events. The HuskyADAPT chairs are the student leaders who plan and facilitate all HuskyADAPT events, as demonstrated at the Spring Community Meeting. Current open positions Don’t miss this opportunity to get more involved in CREATE and help HuskyADAPT continue its impactful work! Apply Now Why get involved? HuskyADAPT is a student organization, supported by CREATE,…

Former CREATE postdoc Sasha Portnova talks about her experiences and inspirations

Cover image from a National Rehabilitation Information Center interview. Photo of Alexandra (Sasha) Portnova with the NARIC and NIDILRR logos

November 22, 2024 Dr. Alexandra (Sasha) Portnova, a postdoctoral researcher with CREATE in 2022-24, was interviewed about those experiences as a NIDILRR-funded fellow and about her work in rehabilitation research. In the National Rehabilitation Information Center interview, Portnova spoke about the value of the CREATE ARRT fellowship in transitioning from the overwhelming life as a Ph.D. student into a faculty career. Currently, Portnova is a research scientist in the Neuromechanics & Mobility Lab, directed by CREATE associate director Katherine M….

Spring 2024 Research Showcase

May 30, 2024 The closing event for CREATE’s Community Day 2024 on May 20th, this research showcase was co-sponsored by HuskyADAPT. Posters and presentations A11yBoard: Making Presentation Slideshow Reading and Editing Accessible to Blind Users Designing human-AI and multimodal interactions to make presentation slideshow reading and editing accessible. Zhuohao (Jerry) Zhang, Gene S-H Kim, Jacob O. Wobbrock A11yBoard poster Ability-Based Design Mobile Toolkit: Developer Support for Runtime Interface Adaptation Based on Users’ Abilities To enable apps to respond to users’…

Wheels in motion: Improving mobility tools for children with developmental delay, cerebral palsy

February 28, 2024 Adapted ride-on cars (ROC) are an affordable, power mobility training tool for young children with developmental and motor disabilities. Previous research has identified environmental factors, such as weather and adequate drive space, as barriers to families’ adoption of their ROC. Now, a new study looks at the relationship between the built environment and ROC usage. Being able to easily get from the house to the playground affects how long and how often children use ROCs, according to…

Off to the Park: A Geospatial Investigation of Adapted Ride-on Car Usage

November 7, 2023 Adapted ride-on cars (ROC) are an affordable, power mobility training tool for young children with disabilities. But weather and adequate drive space create barriers to families’ adoption of their ROC.  CREATE Ph.D. student Mia E. Hoffman is the lead author on a paper that investigates the relationship between the built environment and ROC usage. With her co-advisors Kat Steele and Heather A. Feldner, Jon E. Froehlich (all three CREATE associate directors), and Kyle N. Winfree as co-authors,…

Accessible eSports Showcase 2023: Event Recap

In April 2023, CREATE hosted its first ever Accessible eSports Showcase event, bringing together members of the CREATE community, local community organizations, tech and games Corporate Partners, and folks from all over the Seattle area looking to learn about and celebrate ongoing strides being made in making video games more inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities. Zillow Commons in the Bill & Melinda Gates Center was transformed into a gamer’s playground with big-screen projections of racing and party games,…