Selma Svendsen Joins RISE™Robotics as Vice President of Engineering

RISE™ Robotics is thrilled to announce the addition of Selma Svendsen to their esteemed team as the new Vice President of Engineering. With a remarkable track record in the tech industry spanning over two decades, Selma brings extensive expertise in engineering, global strategic sourcing, and new product introductions (NPI). Her remarkable achievements include managing multimillion-dollar budgets, transforming businesses, and assembling cross-functional teams that drive operational excellence.

Selma's outstanding contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including the prestigious "Best Invention" recognition by Time Magazine, the "Best of What's New" Popular Science award, and induction into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame in 2017. These well-deserved honors bear testament to her innovative problem-solving skills and unwavering commitment to excellence.

In her new role as VP of Engineering, Selma will spearhead all product development initiatives in alignment with the RISE™ product roadmap. Her primary focus will be on optimizing product performance and reliability while minimizing costs. This appointment comes at an opportune moment for RISE™ as the company continues to foster collaborative partnerships with industry giants such as Anthony Liftgates, Danfoss Power Solutions, and the USAF. Together, they aim to develop cutting-edge motion control solutions that enhance machine performance, promote environmental preservation, and enhance our overall quality of life. Selma's arrival is of utmost importance as RISE™ forges ahead with their collaborative efforts alongside Anthony Liftgates and the United States Air Force to revolutionize equipment for the forthcoming era of productivity.

Colin Angle, Chairman, Founder, and CEO of iRobot, Selma's former employer, spoke highly of her exceptional abilities, stating, "When I think of iRobot and what makes us special, I think of Selma. She has a drive and passion not just to solve the problem she was given but to find a solution for what we were trying to accomplish."

Selma herself expressed her enthusiasm for joining RISE™ Robotics, stating, "I firmly believe that sustainable growth necessitates innovation, assembling the right talent, establishing effective governance, fostering healthy workplace environments, and embracing flexibility. At RISE™ Robotics, I am eager to develop strategic plans that encapsulate these vital elements and yield tangible results."

The entire RISE™ Robotics community is encouraged to extend a warm welcome to Selma. Her expertise and enthusiasm are set to invigorate the team, and the company eagerly anticipates the positive impact of her leadership on their future endeavors.

As RISE™ Robotics continues to progress, subscribers are urged to stay tuned for further updates. RISE™ expresses heartfelt gratitude to the community for their unwavering support and involvement in their mission.

bauma 2022 Presents a RISE™ Paradox

Companies that want to go electric have battery strategies, and broadly speaking, they have electrification strategies.

But, what's their actuation strategy?

If it's based on screws, then they're going to discover they are quite limited, or they already have.

There's really no widely recognized alternative to hydraulic cylinder power.

The answer to this really big problem is not incremental innovation; it's a breakthrough.

It's something totally new and advanced. It’s RISE™Technology.

What we've done is make the format familiar by putting the technology inside a cylinder, but it's fluid-free.

RISE™Cylinder instead uses a breakthrough material that has already disrupted the elevator industry. We figured out how to use similar belts in a new way and patented two methods of use.

The result is something that looks like a hydraulic cylinder and behaves like a hydraulic cylinder, but it's more efficient, more precise, lighter, fluid-free, and fits nicely.

This is the electrification strategy that innovators are looking for.

Today, it's in the early R&D phase with only one commercial production project so far, our partnership with Anthony Liftgates. 

Anthony Liftgates is the most innovative company in liftgates and they have put RISE™Technology into their liftgates in order to solve dead battery problems due to no idling laws.

With Anthony Liftgates, we've gone to production and are in the early phases where we're conducting field trials and gathering information.

The second thing we’ve announced is our collaboration with Danfoss. With Danfoss, we're going to prove a new application and scale RISE™Technology.

We're both getting to know each other and we're going to bring this to market together-it's going to be RISE™ and Danfoss doing it for an industry.

RISE™ is concluding their first experience at bauma with the most innovative collaboration partners.

We came to accelerate our path to market and to scale. We are going home with partners who want a different and defensible advantage for their actuation strategy and for their electrification initiatives.

It's not for everybody. Some companies are going to get left behind.

Larger companies are used to things coming out of a university after 10 or 20, or 30 years and lots of grants.

RISE™ is different in the sense that we invented something from nothing, and we're blitzing straight to commercial. This is not going to languish in a lab for a decade and then finally get out.

What that means is that some companies want us to be a little farther than we are. But, in order to get there, we're going to be partnering with their competitors.

The paradox is that only the most forward-looking R&D partners are going to be able to tolerate this challenge.

The Engine - Building A Tough Tech Movement

The Engine, a venture capital firm founded in 2016 by MIT, aims to support and accelerate the development of companies and innovations that improve the world through science and technology.

Recently, Reed Sturtevant, General Partner at The Engine, joined host Justin Starbird on the RISE™Inside podcast to discuss the company's mission and how they are supporting the small business ecosystem for the most promising teams and breakthrough inventions solving some of today's most pressing concerns.

At The Engine, they believe that transforming the industry's foundations can unlock massive opportunities for a more sustainable and resilient world. Recognizing that a healthier population, a more accessible and adaptive society, and a more resilient world are all possible through science, engineering, and leadership, they are focusing their sights on Tough Tech coming from innovators, founders, and startups across human health, climate change, and advanced systems and infrastructure. 

"At the very beginning," Reed points out, "it felt like 'The Engine is just one firm. How much of a dent can we make in all of the problems that are out there?' We aimed to create and encourage an ecosystem to pull all of this together, so we intentionally designed our programs and the space to try to pull like-minded people together."

Reed Sturtevant

Bringing together the investment, government, academic, regulatory, and corporate communities, The Engine creates opportunities for their portfolio companies to learn from large corporations and industry leaders, as well as a chance for industry and government to learn from and collaborate with Tough Tech companies on how to build upon existing solutions. Together, the network can work towards removing barriers and paving a more direct route to commercialization and success for these forward-thinking businesses.

A constant source of innovation opportunities, Reed sees much potential for Tough Tech in the future.

For example, he points out, "there have been several decarbonization efforts where they rely on a carbon tax, or large corporations are often making a commitment to reduce our carbon footprint and are willing to pay a green premium, whether it's for electricity, or materials like cement and steel, or even something uneconomic on its own, like direct air carbon capture. Policies like the IRA and the Inflation Reduction Act can accelerate the development of some of these technologies.

"The hydrogen economy, but in a broader sense, energy storage and transportation is an area we're keeping an eye on. We definitely see a lot of interest in different forms of energy storage—the hydrogen economy using hydrogen or ammonia, or even aluminum as an energy store for moving. It's like converting renewable electricity into something you can transport. Something that we're also always looking at is people creating new kinds of electrolyzers for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity.

"We also believe there are some real opportunities in biomanufacturing, which could be used for things like carbon-neutral jet fuel. In its own way, at a platform level, improvements to some of the base technologies around biomanufacturing will have a lot of downstream positive benefits."

In building their portfolio, Reed points out that not only does The Engine perform outreach, but they also have an open-door policy. "We try to build strong relationships with research universities and large corporations, trying to understand what's being worked on in academia and the strategic needs of large customers. We maintain those types of relationships as best as we can. We also have a pretty welcoming front door. People can reach out to us in terms of investment. We have a whole team of associates and partners who are always looking over the material and taking short meetings. The more, the merrier!"

To hear more about The Engine, their mission, and how they're accelerating the Tough Tech small business ecosystem, listen to "The Engine's Role in the Small Business Startup Ecosystem with Reed Sturtevant," live now on the RISE™Inside podcast!

SOLIDWORKS 3DEXPERIENCE - Empowering Companies To Innovate In Entirely New Ways

1995 SolidWorks Logo

SOLIDWORKS, a company founded 25 years ago by a team of engineers in Massachusetts, began with a dream of building 3D computer-aided engineering software that was easy to use, affordable, and easily accessible.

At the core of their founding values was a desire to stay close to clients, listen to their needs, and continuously improve the technology.

It was that continuing desire to evolve, to provide the technologies needed today to accelerate the innovations of tomorrow, that led to the creation of 3DEXPERIENCE Works. This program expands SOLIDWORKS capabilities from merely a design tool to a complete product development platform, spanning multiple disciplines and uniting entire teams.

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform is a collaborative environment that empowers businesses to innovate in entirely new ways. It combines all aspects of product development, including design, simulation, manufacturing, management, marketing, and sales, centralizing the company on a single platform for increased collaboration, best execution, and accelerated innovation.

3DEXPERIENCE cloud-based solutions allow team members to

• CREATE using comprehensive 3D design capabilities within a single modeling environment.

• DESIGN building complex designs with secure, convenient cloud-based data management to accelerate progress from concept to production.

• MODEL with the 3D SCULPTOR to create ergonomic and organic shapes easily and quickly. 

• DRAFT with an advanced 2D and 3D CAD system to easily, quickly, and efficiently create, edit, view, and mark up any DWG file. Share designs, collaborate, review, and revise designs virtually anywhere, with work securely stored in the cloud.

• PLAN unifying business processes as leaders and stakeholders get progress updates, task turndown, and resource usage for complete visibility into project progress. You can dynamically add dependencies, update timelines, and set milestones to ensure projects stay on track. CAD data is attached to tasks, so it's easy to maintain version control and track progress.

• PROGRAM managing CNC machines, accessories, tools, and tool assemblies in 3D, which speeds up NC programming, minimizes errors and maximizes machine tool utilization. 

• INFORM by aggregating information from online sources and comparing and analyzing shared metrics with your team. A sizeable online content source library lets teams track topics of interest, analyze trends, and even automate analytics to send real-time alerts.

• VALIDATE examining how products will behave in real life, guiding engineering decisions, and optimizing product performance. 

• OPTIMIZE with improved workflows in a collaborative environment. Optimize scheduling and resource allocation, prevent bottlenecks, and achieve near 100% machine utilization, with complete visibility and traceability of the entire manufacturing process.

• COLLABORATE uniting team members across locations within all disciplines in a secure, shared environment with communities, instant messaging, information dashboards, powerful search capabilities, and other features.

• MANAGE utilizing comprehensive data management, lifecycle management, revision and version control, workflow/route management, issue and change management, review and markup capabilities, and task management.

Today, 3DEXPERIENCE Works technology is used by over five million people worldwide, spanning 12 industries ranging from industrial equipment to aerospace, automotive to consumer goods, serving companies and corporations as well as startups, makers, individuals, and students.

RISE™Robotics is one innovative startup that has harnessed the platform's power to bring its ideas and dreams to fruition.

Familiar with SOLIDWORKS from their time as students, the team utilized its tools to optimize concept and modeling from the start, bringing to life their revolutionary discoveries. Today, 3DEXPERIENCE Works is assisting them in the commercialization and launch of their first commercial product, the RISE™Cylinder—an electromechanical alternative to hydraulic systems in heavy machinery—while positioning them to scale it in new collaborations to fit future applications.

"I would emphasize how collaboratively we use it," Toomas Sepp, VP of Engineering and Co-Founder at RISE™Robotics, explains. "We're a small startup team, but we have about 10 SOLIDWORKS users at this point. Most of them are working on a single design as we bring our first product to market. We're talking about a single assembly many people can enter simultaneously, often with different files checked out by each person at any given time and seamlessly integrated once parts are checked back in. We can rest assured that the model is what it is. It's a seamless integration of changes across the whole user base."

Following their successful launch, RISE™ is now using SOLIDWORKS 3DEXPERIENCE capabilities as they pursue new collaborations and expand the reach of their technology.

"We're always thinking about the next steps and where we're going," says Toomas. "We have plans to grow. We're looking to double in size over the next year. We're on the verge of winning or have just won multiple government Air Force contracts, as well as creating business relationships with a few key manufacturing companies in the industry where we're going to attack new markets.

"We have multiple new projects that will kick off over the next few months. Relating that to the SOLIDWORKS platform, we're looking into the product lifecycle management functionality, enterprise resource planning functionality, and just building our supply chain as we get into manufacturing. Keeping those feedback loops quick and fast will be of utmost importance to us as we begin our foray into manufacturing and putting these products out into the field."

To learn more about SOLIDWORKS 3DEXPERIENCE and how an innovative young startup, RISE™Robotics, has used the tools to develop, commercialize, and scale for the future, listen to "3DEXPERIENCE Works role in the Small Business Startup Ecosystem" live now on the RISE™Inside podcast.

SolidWorks in 1995

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SolidWorks in 2022

SOLIDWORKS - The Language of Innovation

A recent series on the RISE™Inside podcast has us chatting with some of the companies contributing to the Small Business Startup Ecosystem and the success of RISE™Robotics.

Dassault Systèmes, with their solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) application, SOLIDWORKS is one such company that has been a part of the RISE™ DNA since before its inception.

Suchit Jain, Vice President of Strategy & Business Development for Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp., and Arron Acosta, CEO of RISE™Robotics, discussed the relationship with host Justin Starbird.

"Dassault Systèmes, a French company, acquired SOLIDWORKS in 1998," shares Suchit. "In those days, it used to be mainframes, computers running CAD. It used to be only meant for the chosen few if you will. SOLIDWORKS' promise then was to bring the power of CAD, computers, and the design process to every engineer's desk. That was the promise. We have kept that all these years."

Since Dassault's acquisition of SOLIDWORKS in 1998, the company has transformed from simply a CAD application into a full-service platform offering complete product lifecycle experiences for designers, manufacturers, and customers.

"As we moved into the last 10 to 15 years, we realized that experiences are important," explains Suchit. "So we created a cloud-based platform called the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which allows all of our applications and tools to connect so that the data is interoperable, allowing all team members to create and deliver an experience to consumers, including everything from concept and design to manufacturing, lifecycle management, and even sales and marketing.

"Today, we call ourselves the 3DEXPERIENCE company. Our job is to bring 3DEXPERIENCEs, and enable our customers to create those 3DEXPERIENCEs, in a virtual form, such that when they deliver them physically, they'll come out perfectly every time."

To provide these complete 3D experiences, SOLIDWORKS offerings include-

2D CAD with DraftSight 2D drafting - DraftSight enables you to meet your drafting, modeling, prototyping, manufacturing, and laser cutting needs.

• Essential 2D design and drafting with a complete set of edit, design, and automation tools

• Create, edit, view, and share 2D and 3D DWG files with productivity tools and an API

3D CAD - Intuitive 3D design and product development solutions help you conceptualize, create, validate, communicate, manage, and transform your innovative ideas into great product designs.

• Create fast and accurate designs, including 3D models and 2D drawings of complex parts and assemblies

• Design for cost and manufacturing with cost estimation tools and manufacturability checks

• Interact with team members and control revisions with standardized data management tools

• Eliminate errors and rework by using integrated motion and stress analysis tools

3DEXPERIENCE® WORKS - unites the entire ecosystem, allowing you to connect the people, applications, and real-time data from every aspect of your business in one connected universe.

• Aggregate and organize product and business data into actionable information

• Benefit from integrated cloud-based product data and lifecycle management

• Securely share real-time information and collaborate to drive sustainable innovation

COLLABORATION - Collaborate with your team using integrated social tools. Engage with management, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders throughout the product development process.

• Cloud-Based Data Management and Collaboration

• Built-in revision and version control with no additional IT investments

• Digitally connect with stakeholders to elicit valuable feedback easily 

• View, markup, manage, and share designs from anywhere, at any time, and on any device 

• Create dashboards and communities to connect people and data in one place to empower collaboration 

ELECTRICAL DESIGN - SOLIDWORKS Electrical solutions simplify electrical product design with specific tools for engineers and intuitive interfaces for faster embedded electrical system design.

• Easily integrate your electrical schematics into 3D models

• Minimize repetitive tasks associated with developing electrical schematics

• Leverage a common database for ECAD and MCAD, ensuring consistency when creating documentation

• Access an extensive electrical component and symbol library of industry-standard schematic symbols

After years of working and designing with SOLIDWORKS, the RISE™Robotics team found themselves on the SOLIDWORKS 3DEXPERIENCE World stage in front of an audience of judges, designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders pitching their revolutionary RISE™Cylinder, an electromechanical alternative to hydraulic systems, which catapulted them into the spotlight.

"At SOLIDWORKS World," Arron reminisces, "lots of customers discovered us for the first time, became aware of us, and started calling and emailing, wanting to see what would happen if they put our technology into their machines and we could show them by just providing them with a CAD model to fit right into their machine.

"One of the things that the CEO of Dassault Systèmes, Bernard Charlès, clearly understands is that Dassault Systèmes customers, SOLIDWORKS customers, are also RISE™ customers. 

"This makes the collaborations that we do with original equipment manufacturers and hydraulic manufacturers very easy because we are all able to speak the same exact file language—it's like when you're doing Word editing, and everyone is using.doc, but in this case, it's all in SOLIDWORKS files."

Suchit adds, "In this world today, everybody collaborates. Parts are being purchased. You don't design everything. Sometimes you're buying parts; sometimes, you're getting them manufactured from outsourced places. The good news is, as a part of the 6 million user SOLIDWORKS network, we have a lot of people who are manufacturing and making things for other customers within the network with a common language: SOLIDWORKS files and data, which are now all on the cloud. Through the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, companies can exchange, very easily, all of that."

As for what's next for RISE™ and their relationship with SOLIDWORKS, "we're only midway through our journey with SOLIDWORKS," explains Arron.

"Next will be more licenses. We're growing pretty rapidly, building out our mechanical engineering team and building out our electrical engineering software manufacturing. We have triple the number of product projects that are starting now than we did previously. We will take on more licenses, set up more computers, and install SOLIDWORKS. That's the immediate need. Then, there's some farther-out stuff that's fascinating around making use of the other tools SOLIDWORKS offers for the rest of the life cycle of our products.

"As we journey into sustainment, we'll be there with SOLIDWORKS. It's nice to have great partners."

To learn more about SOLIDWORKS and their relationship with RISE™Robotics, listen to "SOLIDWORKS-The Language of Innovation" live on the RISE™Inside podcast.

The Power Of A Good Story

There is nothing quite like the power of a good story. And the benefit of a good story for an innovative startup is immeasurable!

Every day, companies around the world are solving problems that we never even knew existed. And The Aebli Group is here to make sure that people know.

Founded in 2014, The Aebli Group, affectionately self-proclaimed the TAG Team, is a full-service marketing and business development agency with a passion for creating stories that highlight and propel companies and innovations that are changing industries.

Whether your business is next door or across the globe, the TAG team is "down the hall" with an array of tools and resources to help you amplify your story, share it, and create actionable results that lead to more business.

Although a full-service agency, TAG's offerings are customizable and scalable and include: 

• Website Design

• Podcast

• Branding

• Content Strategy 

• Digital Marketing

• Social Media

• Public Relations

• Event Marketing

• Creative Services

Whether a startup or a multinational conglomerate, The Aebli Group will work with you to determine and understand your business’ needs, offering prescriptive and creative solutions to ensure your business gets seen and succeeds.

TAG has found their stride in helping clients explain the complex technologies behind their groundbreaking innovations, specifically in the medical device, high-tech, transportation, and logistics markets. This is beautifully highlighted by their work with the zero-emission heavy machinery company, RISE™Robotics, whose innovative new RISE™Technology is disrupting the hydraulics industry and electrifying heavy machinery with it’s fluid free, belt technology proving to be superior in performance, reliability, durability, cost-effectiveness, safety, and predictability while also being environmentally friendly.

With The Aebli Group, your business is their passion. Clients become family, and the team works as hard with them as they do for them. With a shared belief in and passion for RISE™Robotics' innovative RISE™Technology, The Aebli Group, alongside RISE™, worked to create content, share it across platforms, research leads, vet potential deals, create connections, and promote partnerships. This successful strategy ultimately lead to the first real broad application of their breakthrough fluid-free RISE™Cylinder in the reimagined Re-Gen Railtrac™, with RISE™Inside from Anthony Liftgates.

Most recently, an Army xTechSearch 6 Competition win has opened the door for future partnerships, including a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III contract to scale and integrate its efficiency-enabling technology, the RISE™Cylinder, into a Common Lifting Device for the US Air Force. The Common Lifting Device, which was developed under an SBIR Phase II contract for the United States Air Force Special Operations Forces, was a result of an AFWERX phase 1 program, a United States Air Force program with the goal of fostering a culture of innovation within the service and discovering new technologies from companies they had never worked with before.

To learn more about how The Aebli Group can help your company tell its story, get discovered, grow its bottom line, and become a leader in your industry, visit their website, Aebligroup.com. Also, be sure to check out their podcast, Inspections, to learn more about RISE™ and the other incredible clients and innovations with whom TAG has the privilege of working.

Seeing New Possibilities

In a continuing series on the RISE™Inside podcast, we've been highlighting RISE™Robotics' belief in and work with disability employment awareness—a time to celebrate the numerous and diverse contributions of workers with disabilities, while also providing an opportunity to educate the public, particularly employers, on issues surrounding disability employment. As well as blindness awareness—a campaign close to the hearts of RISE™Robotics and team members Ken Gray, Chief Product Officer, and fellow eSight advocate, Rosa Henderson, Executive Assistant to the Chief Product Officer, who both live, work, and thrive with visual impairments. 

Today on the RISE™Inside podcast, host Justin Starbird is joined by special guests Roland Mattern, Director of Marketing for eSight Eyewear, and Gary Foster, advocate, former employee, and user of eSight Eyewear, to talk about eSight technology and the impact that interventions can have on improving people's vision and lives.

At its core, eSight is the most versatile and advanced all-in-one device for people with visual impairments, designed to move seamlessly with the wearer through daily life.

eSight's low vision device, more commonly referred to as electronic Eyewear, functions by stimulating synaptic activity from the remaining photoreceptor function of the user's eyes. Using a cutting-edge camera, smart algorithms, and high-resolution screens, the assistive technology maximizes the visual information provided to the brain to naturally compensate for gaps in the user's field of view.

A typical eSight user has visual acuity of 20/60 to 20/800, some as high as 20/1400, caused by more than 20 different eye conditions, including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and Stargardt's disease. Many may achieve 20/20 visual acuity while wearing eSight.

At eSight, they don't just help their low-vision clients see. They help them "See New Possibilities." Whether it's getting a new job, pursuing a degree, or traveling the world, their goal is to provide the most advanced low-vision assistive technology available.

Since Gary discovered eSight in 2015, it has significantly impacted his life, his independence, and all the things he loves to do. His story is both fascinating and inspiring.

"It made a completely profound difference in my life. It's made me completely independent again. I travel all over North America unassisted because when I wear an eSight, I actually have 20/20 vision. I have 20/400 vision without it. It's a thrill for me to introduce this technology to people because it still amazes me.

"I suffered from AMD. In my family, it's very common. Our doctor always classified this as premature age-related macular degeneration because, in my family, we get it young. 

I was my mother's caregiver when she lost her sight, and I have to say, I thought that if it ever happened to me, because of my experience with my mother, I would be completely capable of handling this situation. I knew what to expect, but I can tell you, honestly, that nothing prepares you for losing your sight.

"I wasn't prepared, even though I thought I would be, because I didn't realize the simple tasks that I wouldn't be able to do.

"I've always been a very independent person, and having to become dependent was a real challenge for me. It really was a challenge.

"I had a very dynamic job. I worked in the Rocky Mountains. I lived in Lake Louise, Alberta. I had a lot of people that I was responsible for. I was responsible for all of the highways in the National Park, everything from avalanches to snow removal to road repair and bridge repair. I was the operations coordinator for all of that, which was very demanding.

"I went from that, on a Wednesday, to being unemployed on a Thursday.

"When my eyesight reached the point where I could no longer maintain a driver's license, that was the end of my career. It was hard to go home and wonder, 'Well, what next?'

"I became an ambassador for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind just to be active. It was at one of their conferences that I first encountered eSight.

"I remember standing in a long line of people who wanted to look through this device. There was a fellow there, Tyler Moore, who wears eSight, and he was holding them up for people to look through. There were so many people that he was talking to a group on his left and holding the glasses up on his right for the queue to come through and look. 

"When it was finally my turn, I was looking through the glasses, and my wife stood in front of me and said, 'Well, what can you see?' I said, 'I see your face.'

"She started to cry. I looked around the room, and I said, 'I can see everybody's face.' I heard, 'Next,' as the glasses were pulled away from my face. It was like, 'Oh, my God, I need to know more'!

"That was my introduction to eSight. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

"I went to talk to my doctor about it. They had never heard about it. He was skeptical.

"I flew from Calgary to Toronto to do a complete evaluation and found that for me, I read to the bottom of the eye chart. I couldn't believe it. It was absolutely phenomenal. Shortly after that, I purchased my first pair and started learning how to relive my life independently.

"I have to say that it is something I never thought would happen again," recalls Gary. "When I had an opportunity to go and work full-time, I was like a kid in the toy store. I wanted to learn everything about the inside workings of that office. I worked with everybody. I wanted to know every bit of what I was supposed to be doing, and I branched out. Not only did I learn the job I was there to do, I just started doing more and more and more. The more capable I was, the more they got me involved.

"Having a full-time job gave me back my confidence. For me, it was just so exciting. There was nothing that I didn't want to do. If I could do it, I would do it."

As for what's next for Gary and his refound independence, "my wife and I look forward to any opportunity we can assist eSight in getting the word out, which we do. We love doing that. 

"When I first started going to conferences and meeting with doctors, I was always amazed at why they hadn't heard of this product. It's in medical journals. Then, the next step was that they were always so incredibly skeptical. I understand that, but what's happening now is so gratifying. Doctors are coming looking for us, wanting to know more.

"To hear a doctor say, for example, 'I have ten patients right now that I can't do anything for, and I would love to introduce them to this technology. I need to know more.' When we start hearing that, I really feel like I'm accomplishing something, which is great because I'm more interested in what it does for that client than the doctor or even eSight itself.

"My message is, here's this technology. Let's get it into the hands of the people that can use it, and I'm starting to hear more encouragement from doctors. Roland would agree with me; it's so gratifying to have a doctor come up and be excited because he's heard about this. He comes, and he talks to us about it. We'll do a demo, and he's excited to return to his practice and get the word out."

"On a personal level," Gary says, "I am going to be an incredibly busy person until I am no longer able to do so physically. It's not going to be the vision that's going to stop me at this point. Somewhere along the line, my legs, my knees, and my back will have to say enough is enough. I love it."

And as for the future of eSight, Roland explains, "eSight 4 builds upon the success of eSight 3, which was named a Time Magazine's Innovation of the Year and Health Tech Digital Awards Best Wearable Technology Solution. 

"In the long term, we'd like to be a household name. We want to be on the tip of the tongue of every ophthalmologist in North America and beyond, but I think those are your Big Hairy Audacious Goals in the long term.

"In the short term, we will be attending the American Academy of Ophthalmology this month and the American Academy of Optometry to continue driving our message to the healthcare community.

"We also have a new product in development. We're constantly pushing the envelope, looking to make the product better. We're hoping to have a release for a new product in 2023. Our R&D colleagues are indeed working on that.

"In the meantime, we continue working through our digital and face-to-face channels to ensure our message gets out there and we can help as many people as possible.”

If any of your listeners want to learn more about eSight, they can visit our website at www.esighteyewear.com. There you will find product information including user stories, about the company, and information about various retinal diseases that impact central vision. Please visit eSight and reach out anytime.

Also, to hear more about eSight and Gary's journey, tune into "Seeing New Possibilities" live on the RISE™Inside podcast today!

Creating Inclusive Work Environments

Held every October, Disability Employment Awareness Month is a time to celebrate the numerous and diverse contributions of workers with disabilities while also providing an opportunity to educate the public, particularly employers, on issues surrounding disability employment.

Coincidently, October is also Blindness Awareness Month, a campaign close to the hearts of RISE™Robotics and team members Ken Gray, Chief Product Officer, and Rosa Henderson, Executive Assistant to the Chief Product Officer, who both live, work, and thrive with visual impairments.

Past episodes of the RISE™Inside podcast have shed light on and highlighted how RISE™Robotics and its team members have flourished as a result of inclusive practices, appropriate accommodations, and a mindset that looks beyond impairments or disabilities, shifts the focus to what people can do, and capitalizes on the inherent talent and value of every employee.

In the most recent episode of RISE™Inside, Molly Pasley, Assistant Professor of Special Education at Northern Illinois University in the Visual Disabilities Program, sat down with host Justin Starbird to discuss ways in which all employers can shift their mindset, recognize disability bias and discrimination, and create inclusive environments specifically surrounding visual impairments.

Through her teaching and research, Molly has recognized a common underlying fear of workplace discrimination surrounding "coming out blind."

"Right now," she begins, "I'm in the middle of a study where I'm interviewing people all across the country and in Canada with visual impairments about their experiences with discrimination. A number of people have said that they've either tried to hide or successfully hidden their visual impairment in the workplace because they were afraid they wouldn't be promoted or wouldn't be hired for a job if they disclosed their visual impairment."

The first step towards mitigating these fears and creating an inclusive environment is self-awareness, explains Molly. "Once a company recognizes a bias exists, they can actively fight against it."

To do so, Molly encourages a "strengths-based approach" when hiring and promoting. "Look at people for what they bring to the table," she explains, "not what they can't do or what you perceive they can't do.

"Ask first. Get to know the individual and if they tell you they can do something, believe them until they indicate to you that they've got to come up with an alternative. This will also help avoid the trap of assuming a person is incapable of doing something based on their disability, which I think a lot of people fall into if they haven't met or don't know a person who's blind or visually impaired."

"Another important thing," she adds, "would be to ask that person what they need to be successful in the workplace, and when they tell you, listen. Don't assume you know better just because you are sighted or just because you're able-bodied. They've been navigating the world with that disability and have figured out how they learn and work best."

She goes on to also encourage a foundation of inclusive practices. "For example," she explains, "when creating any training videos, promotional materials, or even paper documents, making sure that you're thinking, 'Okay, how is a person with low vision or blindness going to be able to access this? Do I need to put it in an electronic format where I don't have all these graphics? Or use alternative texts?' That way, every employee will get the full meaning from the materials and graphics. Also, with training videos, include descriptive audio and closed captions for scenes with a lot of visual information that a person can't detect with a visual impairment."

Molly believes that educating yourself is the best way to overcome biases and disability discrimination. "A great resource for employers who are looking to do the work on themselves and within their organization to change the culture of their organization into one that is more inclusive, specifically for people who are blind or visually impaired, is the Mississippi State University's National Technical Assistance Center on Blindness and Low Vision, or the NTAC-BVI."

"Their goal," explains Molly, "is to improve employment outcomes for people with blindness or low vision and provide free resources for employers, job seekers, and families. It's a really rich website. They include employee vignettes, stories of people across fields, across visual impairment, the entire spectrum, you name it. I feel like they have a great representation there."

The site addresses topics such as:

• What are blindness and low vision

• What types of jobs can people who are blind or have low vision do

• Why hire workers who are blind or have low vision

• How can we accommodate visual impairments in the workplace

• What are the legal requirements for hiring someone who is blind or has low vision

• How can I help a current employee who is experiencing blindness or low vision

• How do blind workers perform job-relayed tasks

For more information on these topics, head to their website, ntac.blind.msstate.edu, or contact Molly through email at mpasley@niu.edu.

To hear more about Molly's work and ways you can address disability discrimination and promote inclusiveness in the workplace, listen to Episode 3 of Series 4, We RISE™ With Molly Pasley on the RISE™Inside podcast, live now!