Rory Cooper honored at White House by President Biden; University Times, University of Pittsburgh, November 2, 2023

 University Times, University of Pittsburgh; Rory Cooper honored at White House by President Biden

"Rory Cooper, who has been given a slew of awards over the years for his work in rehabilitation sciences, found himself at the White House last week, where President Joe Biden bestowed on him the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement.

Cooper is founding director of Pitt’s Human Engineering Research Laboratories and, since 2021, assistant vice chancellor for research for STEM-health sciences collaborations.

He was among several people Biden presented the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to on Oct. 24. On Oct. 26, Cooper, who holds nine U.S. patents and has nine more pending, also was inducted into the 50th class of the National Inventors Hall of Fame at a gala in Washington, D.C."

On National Inventors’ Day, Celebrating IBM’s Innovators; Forbes, February 11, 2020

Dario Gil, Director of IBM Research, Forbes; On National Inventors’ Day, Celebrating IBM’s Innovators

"It all boils down to the culture, and the diverse global network of human beings who drive it. As Chieko Asakawa, who lost her eyesight at age 14 and went on to pioneer technologies that open the wonders of the Internet to visually impaired users, puts it: “IBM has a culture that respects each person’s own perspective. It’s a culture of listening, discussion and thinking about ideas together.”

Asakawa was recently inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her work to create the Home Page Reader, a web-to-speech system, improving internet accessibility and usability for the visually impaired. 

“When I started working for IBM,” she reflects, “my blindness became my strength.”

And her strength—along with the talent of all her inventive colleagues—is one of IBM’s greatest assets."