Two months ago, “Huskie Trek Talks: Ideas in Motion” included presentations by three CEET faculty members. One was Ziteng Wang, associate professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
He received the event’s largest grant: $15,000 to test and launch an app for analysis of a child’s walking pattern after a short video of the child’s gait is uploaded. Analysis to this point has demonstrated over 80 percent accuracy in predicting the child’s likelihood of autism, Wang said.
In addition to overcoming barriers to early autism screening, the development holds the promise of earlier detection and proactive support for children with autism.
The web-based tool known as iGAIT is the outcome of Wang’s ongoing research partnership with Allison Gladfelter and Milijana Buac, both from the College of Health and Human Sciences, and Sinan Onal, associate professor of industrial engineering at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Their efforts have been supported by a seed grant from the Illinois Innovation Network.
To learn more about this exciting initiative, watch this video created by the NIU Alumni Association:
