ExCITe Center: Cerebral Palsy Physical Therapy with Kinect from Girish Balakrishnan on Vimeo.
Do you have an idea for a project that crosses disciplines and involves collaboration between different groups? If so, Drexel University wants to hear from you. The Philadelphia university is offering seed money of $3,500 to $6,500 to Philadelphia-area projects in an effort to encourage innovation. People interested in the program can check out the application requirements here. The deadline for submissions is July 1 at 5 p.m.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
The university’s ExCITe Center (Expressive and Creative Interaction Technologies), which opened last year, is behind the program. Youngmoo Kim, the director of the center, is familiar with the concept of cross-discipline projects; he has a background that includes electrical engineering and music. He said in an interview that the program is about funding projects that would not typically receive government grants or other forms of funding and are unlikely to be profitable.
One example of that is a video game designed to provide physical therapy for people with cerebral palsy (shown above) in a project that bridged the worlds of healthcare and gaming. “You probably wouldn’t find this at Best Buy,” Kim said.
He added that the idea behind the ExCITe Center is to have civic and community engagement at its core that spurs collaboration with different institutions in the region.
