Visualizing without seeing
3D printing and multisensory augmented reality help ensure STEM is accessible to all students .
by Payal Dhar
PHOTO ( LEFT ) BY DREW ANTHONY SMITH ; PHOTO ( RIGHT ) BY TIMOTHY ARCHIBALD
“ Nobody can see atoms ,” says Hoby Wedler , a chemist , educator , entrepreneur and advocate for students in STEM who are blind or have low vision . This makes him wonder : Shouldn ’ t studying chemistry then be possible for everyone ?
Wedler , who has been blind since birth , earned his Ph . D . in organic chemistry in 2016 . “ During my graduate career , I did a lot of work to make chemistry more accessible to me ,” he says . This included drawing figures with a pen , then flipping the paper over and tracing it to form a thick raised line . “ And while this still works really well [ for ] easy diagrams , they are not permanent .”
Student researchers in STEM who are blind or have low vision are used to finding workarounds for everyday tasks that their sighted contemporaries take for granted — that ’ s not the problem . The problem is a lack of accessible resources .
Above / Chemist Hoby Wedler is pictured at home in Petaluma , California .
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