• About
  • Top Stories
  • Topics

    Green Energy News

    Solar News
    Hydrogen News
    Nuclear News
    Wind News
    Hydropower News

    Transportation News

    Electric Vehicle (EV) News
    Fuel Cell News
    Aviation News
    Public Transit News
    Commercial / Shipping News

    Sustainable Agriculture News

    Biomass Energy News
    Biofuel News
    Agtech News

    Utility News

    Smart Meter News
    Energy Storage News
    Demand Response News

    Environment News

    Recycling News
    Water News
    Pollution News

    Smart Cities News

    Energy Efficiency News
    Internet of Things (IoT) News

    Climate News

    Decarbonization News
    Climate Tech News

    Green Tech Innovation News

    Robotics News
    Nanotech News
    Batteries

  • Contact
No Results
View all Results
  • About
  • Top Stories
  • Topics

    Green Energy News

    Solar News
    Hydrogen News
    Nuclear News
    Wind News
    Hydropower News

    Transportation News

    Electric Vehicle (EV) News
    Fuel Cell News
    Aviation News
    Public Transit News
    Commercial / Shipping News

    Sustainable Agriculture News

    Biomass Energy News
    Biofuel News
    Agtech News

    Utility News

    Smart Meter News
    Energy Storage News
    Demand Response News

    Environment News

    Recycling News
    Water News
    Pollution News

    Smart Cities News

    Energy Efficiency News
    Internet of Things (IoT) News

    Climate News

    Decarbonization News
    Climate Tech News

    Green Tech Innovation News

    Robotics News
    Nanotech News
    Batteries

  • Contact
No Results
View all Results
Home Green Tech Innovation News

Out of Adversity Comes Opportunity

Katie Pyzyk by Katie Pyzyk
April 15, 2020
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Chicago entrepreneur Andre Johnson’s life changed after a paralysis injury, and now he sees an opportunity to help people with disabilities find supportive products.

Losing something we take for granted can suddenly raise that item to the utmost importance in our lives. For most of us, the pandemic has brought a loss of freedom to go about our daily lives as we please. But a loss of freedom started many years ago and has been felt even deeper for Andre Johnson.

The Chicago entrepreneur suffered a spinal cord injury when he was the innocent victim of gun violence during a carjacking in Chicago in 2004. He suffered a paralysis injury, and his friend was killed. That set him on a personal journey to learn about healthcare, figure out his needs, and determine how to move forward.

A setback required surgery and time in a nursing home. After that, Johnson returned to school for electronics engineering and earned his degree, then an advanced management certificate from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Johnson went to an event at Chicago’s 1871 incubator to network, but everything changed when he grabbed a bottle of water and tried to put it into the cup holder of his brand new wheelchair. “I hadn’t found a simple cup holder… to put on this chair. So when I put the bottle where I normally have the cup holder, it rolled across the floor,” he said.

That started him thinking about the difficulty people with disabilities face in searching for quality supportive equipment. At a hackathon, he pitched a solution: a startup dedicated to helping people with disabilities find the products they need. He eventually won a scholarship through 1871 to launch his startup.

“When I first got injured, my only tool was to go to Google and try to type as many relevant keywords to find the things that I needed or was curious about… Even if you search things now, you’re only going to get those who pay the most money for SEO,” he explained.

Johnson now is working to launch an online platform called LiveEquipd where people with disabilities, therapists, and caregivers can easily find and purchase quality supportive products.

“It’s innovating that space, because the whole e-commerce online model needs to change to really put patient consumers first,” he said. “I wanted to build a platform that provides three commonly needed things in this space: products, resources, and community.”

Generally speaking, Johnson believes that businesses are making some progress with paying attention to the needs of people with disabilities and “there are some gaps being filled with technology. But it’s not there yet. There’s still work to be done.”

He points to groups such as ADA 25 Advancing Leadership that help to place people with disabilities in companies’ leadership positions. Bringing in employees with different abilities means “decision makers can have a real seat at the table with someone who can help make a smart decision when it comes to diversity or accessibility” because they’re living it and can provide valuable insight on lagging areas, he said.

Johnson hopes to start testing LiveEquipd in the next few months. Eventually, he’d like to add a mobile app. As with most startups, developing the platform requires long hours and a constant eye toward future funding. But he said it will be worth it when the platform goes live.

“I know I’m not the only one dealing with this,” Johnson said. He wants others managing paralysis injuries to benefit as well, “particularly mothers dealing with this, whether it’s for an infant or an adult child… We’re trying to help them navigate that situation.”

Are there entrepreneurs in your community who are trying to make the world a better place? Let me know who they are so I can share their stories here, too. Reach me at katie@centered.tech or on Twitter @centereddottech.

Best,

Katie

Other stories we’re watching:

  • Wisconsin leaders launched an “emergency internet” tool that is accessible via smartphone to help users find free broadband services during the pandemic. (Wisconsin State Journal)
  • I Know I Can, a Columbus, Ohio, nonprofit that helps students pursue and complete college education, donated more than 500 wireless hotspots to local schools to help students who need technology for remote schooling. (Digital Journal)
  • 3D printer vendor NovaStar Solutions in Livonia, Michigan, converted its demonstration lab into a ventilator parts manufacturing space. It’s making hose splitters so more than one patient can use a single ventilator at a time. (ClickOnDetroit)
  • Indianapolis-based tech business My IT Indy is helping small- and medium-sized local businesses move their operations from the office to home for free. (RTV6)

Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

Subscribe to receive free weekday news updates



    Previous Post

    “Look for the Helpers”

    Next Post

    The Mother of Invention

    Related News

    Sabrina Nilufar, assistant professor in the SIU School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering.

    3D printing could create ‘sandwich’ materials more energy efficiently

    by Katie Pyzyk
    May 10, 2022
    0

    A research team at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is working to save energy, time, and money while more easily creating sandwich materials.

    Liang Zhang of AnalySwift, left, and Wenbin Yu of Purdue’s College of Engineering stand in front of models of lightweight structures made from tailorable composites. Credit: Wenbin Yu / Purdue University

    Indiana team developing tool for designing composite structures

    by Katie Pyzyk
    April 6, 2022
    0

    The tool will shorten the design and analysis time required for lightweight space structures made from composites, thus reducing costs.

    Next Post

    The Mother of Invention

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

    Subscribe to receive free weekday news updates



      Trending News

      What I Wrote About Women’s History Month Before the World Changed

      April 17, 2020
      I blame tech fatigue for the lack of a clever subject line

      I blame tech fatigue for the lack of a clever subject line

      May 5, 2020
      Ford and the University of Michigan's life-cycle emissions assessment of electric trucks found that carbon reductions grow with vehicle size.

      Keep on trucking: Electrifying pickups reduces more emissions than other vehicle types

      March 9, 2022

      Popular Topics

      • Green Tech Innovation News
      • Transportation News
      • Green Energy News
      • Environment News
      • Electric Vehicle (EV) News
      • Water News
      • Batteries
      • Sustainable Agriculture News
      • Solar News
      • Energy Efficiency
      • Smart Cities News
      • Climate News
      • Agtech News
      • Decarbonization News
      • Recycling News
      • Utility News
      • Hydrogen News
      • Wind News
      • Biofuel News
      • Electrical Grid News
      • Aviation News
      • Nanotech News
      • Biomass Energy News
      • Energy Storage News
      • Pollution News
      • Robotics News
      • Nuclear News
      • Commercial / Shipping News
      • Climate Tech News
      • Hydropower News
      • Fuel Cell News
      • Smart Meter News
      • Internet of Things (IoT) News
      Centered



      © 2022 Centered. All Rights Reserved.

      Centered is a publication of the Energy News Network, in partnership with the Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Foundation.

      • Privacy
      • Terms of Use
      No Results
      View all Results
      • About
      • Top Stories
      • Topics
        • Green Energy News
        • Transportation News
        • Sustainable Agriculture News
        • Electrical Grid News
        • Environment News
        • Smart Cities News
        • Climate News
        • Green Tech Innovation News
      • Contact

      Centered. All Rights Reserved.

      Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

      Subscribe to receive a free daily roundup of underreported technology stories from around the region.



        Contact Us