European study of research and development in mobility technology for persons with disabilities

According to the McNeil Report and, more recently, the 2004 Louis Harris Poll [1] approximately 20% of the United States Population is experiencing some form of disability, as defined by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 [2]. These disabilities are generally caused by trauma, degenerative diseases or simple aging. Accordingly, if a person lives long enough, she/he will become disabled in at least one major life function. A significant portion of the disability community includes those individuals experiencing some form of mobility impairment.In 1979, Congress recognized the need to provide research that would address enabling and disability augmentation issues for an important group within the U.S. population. In House Report 95-993, the Committee of Science and Technology directed the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create a program designed to support basic and applied research directed at providing enabling technology for persons with disabilities. At the inception of the NSF 'Handicapped Research Program', the program would "... support research on the use of scientific and engineering development to improve (disabilities), and also to find ways to overcome locomotion and manipulatory limitations." [3] This program was charged with providing an interdisciplinary environment that included all of the basic engineering disciplines along with the emerging field of biomedical engineering.Over the years, the 'Handicapped Research Program' has experienced a variety of name changes that reflect the evolution of societal needs. The current form of this program is the 'General & Age Related Disabilities Engineering' (GARDE) Program and provides funding for basic research that targets the general disability community as well as the ever increasing needs of an aging population. This current form of the program is directly in line with the NSF Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2011-2016 - Empowering the Nation Through Discovery and Innovation with the vision to "... capitali