The basics:
- Kean assistant professor receives $75,000 OrthoHeal grant
- Research will evaluate FlexiOH casts against traditional casting methods
- Kean will also house first Abitronix Labs for hands-on AI security training
- Lab will expose students to AI, cybersecurity, physical security technologies
A $75,000 charitable grant will help a Kean University assistant professor advance orthopedic research.
The R2 research university announced Oct. 16 that James Stavitz received the grant from medical technology company OrthoHeal. Stavitz is an assistant professor in Kean’s Master of Science in athletic training in the College of Health Professions and Human Services.
In addition to backing the research, the funds will also provide opportunities for students as well as support educational initiatives at the Union-based school over the next five years. A key part of Stavitz’s research will focus on FlexiOH, a washable, breathable, waterproof cast manufactured by OrthoHeal.
According to Kean, Stavitz will study radiographic healing and complications associated with FlexiOH. He’ll also conduct a randomized clinical study comparing the product to traditional fiberglass and plaster casting methods.
Supporting students
“My work with OrthoHeal at Kean will focus primarily on the development of scholarly research and peer-reviewed publications related to emerging orthopaedic immobilization technologies, particularly light-cured polymer immobilizers such as FlexiOH,” Stavitz said in the announcement.
Smit Patel, chief commercial officer at OrthoHeal, said the partnership “gives us an opportunity to engage students across a range of healthcare disciplines, including athletic training, physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant studies, nursing and exercise physiology, and expose them to emerging approaches in orthopaedic care, immobilization and bracing.”
Stavitz added that the funding and partnership will help “prepare future healthcare professionals to become leaders in evidence-based orthopaedic and sports medicine practice.”
Stavitz and OrthoHeal also plan to host several webinars a year on related topics.
From healthcare to tech
Kean University students interested in a different area of study – video intelligence – will also have a new hands-on learning opportunity.
Arizona-based Iveda announced Oct. 20 a long-term partnership with tech company Abitronix, headquartered in Flanders. The collaborators are launching AbitronixAI, Powered by Iveda, in the tri-state region.
The technology expands on applications such as facial recognition, weapons detection, and smoke and fire detection to include unattended-object monitoring, natural language search and custom models for vessel detection, Iveda explained.
As part of the partnership, Kean University will house the inaugural Abitronix Labs. The lab will give students hands-on exposure to IvedaAI and other technologies. The initiative connects classroom learning with practical applications across business, AI, cybersecurity and physical security.
Abitronix CEO Hugo Almeida – a Kean alumnus and member of the College of Business and Public Management’s Board of Advisors – will also host a class supporting the initiative. In March, Almeida donated $15,000 to the college.
Hitting the ground running
Almeida noted the growing need for his company’s technology.
“[O]ur home state of New Jersey [is] the most densely populated and digitally connected state in the country, where a single agency may oversee tens of thousands of cameras across the communities it serves,” Almeida said. “At that scale, agencies do not need more raw footage; they need actionable intelligence that helps them understand what is happening and respond in real time.”
[A]gencies do not need more raw footage; they need actionable intelligence that helps them understand what is happening and respond in real time.
– Hugo Almeida, Abitronix CEO and Kean University alumnus
Stan Mierzwa, director of the Kean University Center for Cybersecurity, said the department “is committed to giving students real-world experiential learning in cybersecurity, cybercrime, and physical security” so they can “hit the ground running.”
“Introducing them to AI tools that integrate with physical security systems is exactly the kind of hands-on experience that prepares them for today’s workforce,” Mierzwa added.
The Abitronix Labs launch is the latest of Kean’s tech initiatives. In September, the university announced it received a $500,000 National Science Foundation grant to further develop programs that will help build the future cyberAI workforce.
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