SEMS group research to be presented at the Houses of Parliament

Research from SMARTmove, a collaborative project between Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) and the Faculty of Health Sciences will be presented at the Houses of Parliament on Monday 12th March 2018 at the prestigious ‘STEM for Britain’ event. Dr Katie Meadmore, a Senior Research Fellow in Health Sciences, was shortlisted from hundreds of applicants, and will attend Parliament with Dr Neil Grabham, a Senior Research Fellow in ECS.

Katie and Neil are representing an interdisciplinary research team, funded by the Medical Research Council and led by Dr Kai Yang. The research combines cutting edge printed smart fabrics, intelligent control and health care methods to achieve wearable electrical stimulation technology that will assist arm movement in stroke survivors both in clinical settings and at home.

On the opportunity to present this research in Parliament, Katie said, ‘STEM for Britain is an excellent platform from which to advocate the need for low cost solutions to rehabilitation and to showcase our research to address this which was developed with stroke survivors. I hope that my day in Parliament will raise awareness amongst MPs of this need for rehabilitation, as well as the consequences of living with stroke more generally.’

STEM for Britain is a poster competition that aims to encourage and foster greater engagement between early-stage researchers and MPs. Stephen Metcalfe MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, said: ‘This annual competition is an important date in the parliamentary calendar because it gives MPs an opportunity to speak to a wide range of the country’s best young researchers.’ The SMARTmove research will be presented to politicians, scientists and a panel of expert judges. It has been entered in to the Engineering session of the competition and judges will award a gold, silver and bronze winner.