Ray Grott, MA, ATP, RET is Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering Technology (RET) Project at San Francisco State University where he has taught classes in assistive technology for people with disabilities since 1992 and coordinated a federally-funded Graduate Certificate training program in assistive technology from 1992 to 2000.
He has a Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Technology from SFSU and is certified as an Assistive Technology Practitioner (ATP) and Rehabilitation Engineering Technologist (RET) from RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America). In addition to his teaching, he currently conducts all of the ergonomics assessments for SFSU’s Workers Compensation program and the reasonable accommodation evaluations for University staff and faculty with disabilities.
Off campus, Grott has worked directly with hundreds of people with a wide range of disabilities, providing assistive technology solutions through the California Department of Rehabilitation and other public and private agencies. He not only conducts assessments and helps match people to the appropriate existing technologies, but is often found in his shop creating new ones. Over the years, he has become nationally-known for his creative solutions, unique equipment modifications, and custom design work. One of his favorite activities has been working with Through the Looking Glass in Berkeley, CA to develop custom modifications to baby care equipment for parents with disabilities.
Grott has made numerous formal presentations on various aspects of the assistive technology locally and around the country. He also regularly presents conference workshops on many topics and teaches pre-conference courses on speech recognition technology and on the ergonomics of computer use—both with a focus on accommodating people with disabilities. He has been honored with the Mentor Award from RESNA and the W.F. Faulkes Award from the National Rehabilitation Association for his program’s “contribution of national importance to the increase of knowledge in the field of rehabilitation.”
Grott has been actively involved in RESNA since 1991, when he was a winner of the RESNA/Easter Seals National Student Design Competition. He has served on the RESNA Meetings Committee--which is responsible for putting on the organization’s annual conference-- for six years, the last two as its Chair.