David Hobbs

David has extensive experience as a Senior Rehabilitation Engineer in the field of disability, rehabilitation engineering, and assistive technologies having worked at Novita Children’s Services (www.novita.org.au) in a variety of roles over 9 years. He is currently a Lecturer and academic staff member within the College of Science and Engineering and a researcher within the Medical Device Research Institute at Flinders University. David has bachelor degrees in Physics (1992-1994) and Biomedical Engineering (1996-2000), with First Class Honours, and a PhD in Rehabilitation Engineering (2010-2018) from Flinders University. David’s professional honours to date include being awarded a Churchill Fellowship in the field of rehabilitation engineering and Universal Design (2003); Engineers Australia’s Young Professional Engineer of the Year (2004); Engineers Australia's Top 100 Most Influential Engineers (2005); and a Fulbright Professional Scholarship in the field of paediatric rehabilitation engineering (2008). David currently serves on a number of professional Boards and National Committees within the rehabilitation engineering field and is the current Chair of the College of Biomedical Engineers in SA. David is also passionate about the area of Humanitarian Aid and International Development and was an active member of Engineers Without Borders (www.ewb.org.au) from the time it started in Australia. David served on EWB’s national board from 2004-2007 and co-developed and co- initiated a key program in Cambodia in 2003 that continues to this day. David has experience working in rehabilitation engineering research and industry institutions in Australia, England, Canada and the United States, holds a patent for his PhD work, and has twice won first prize in the College of Biomedical Engineers’ Better Technology Awards for novel assistive technologies. He is an invited TEDx speaker, has delivered numerous invited and keynote presentations, and represented Australia at the Global Assistive Technology Summit at the WHO in Geneva in 2017. Specialities: Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology, Universal Design, product development and innovation, business planning and commercial viability assessment, international development.

Most of us play computer games for fun or because we want to get the highest score possible. What if playing computer games could improve one’s health or ability? Watch David’s inaugural TEDxFulbright talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvpMUwmZdrI

Assistive Technologies, Disability, E-learning, Medical devices, Rehabilitation, Research, Science