Gifts in Action - Michael Callahan

MEET MICHAEL CALLAHAN

Michael Callahan has found a way to give voice to disabled people currently unable to speak.

The 24-year-old University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate student won the prestigious $30,000 Lemelson-Illinois Student Prize. His award-winning invention? The Audeo, a device that translates neurological signals into spoken words or commands for other devices (such as a motorized wheelchair).

“Prior technologies that allowed the disabled to communicate required physical movements like pressing a button or tracking head movements,” said Callahan. “The amount of movement required to use these devices makes them inaccessible to severely disabled people.

“Because our technology does not require physical movement, it has created an opportunity to bypass the communicative behaviors imposed by physical disability.”

Leading a team of students and researchers in UIUC’s Department of Systems and Engineering, Callahan has begun to realize the astounding potential of this technology. After a recent breakthrough, he and his team have shown the ability to produce fluent speech with 70% accuracy from the neurological signals. He hopes that this innovation will restore communication for millions of disabled people.

THE LEMELSON-ILLINOIS STUDENT PRIZE

The Lemelson-Illinois Student Prize is awarded to a UIUC student who, like Callahan, has demonstrated remarkable inventiveness and innovation.

A distinguished panel of Illinois alumni and friends including scientists, technologists, engineers and entrepreneurs chooses the winner. The prize is funded through a partnership with the Lemelson-MIT Program, which has awarded the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize to outstanding student inventors at MIT since 1995.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

“The goal of this award is to recognize the outstanding innovation and invention of the students at the University of Illinois,” said Andrew Singer, director of the Technology Entrepreneur Center in the College of Engineering. “Michael Callahan is a great example of the type of student we wish to honor with this award.”