The student group ME Engenuity held its third annual Disability Visibility in Engineering Symposium, showcasing the future of accessibility in engineering.
The 2025 symposium was held on March 28 and included research talks by faculty members, panels from students and staff, small group discussions, and networking.
Claire Davies, associate professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Queen’s University, delivered a keynote address discussing how engineers can co-create and design technologies with disabled community members, empowering them to define the research.
Third-year Materials Science and Engineering PhD student Daniel Delgado Cornejo has been involved with the Disability Visibility in Engineering Symposium since its establishment in 2023 by recent PhD graduate Allison King. This year, Delgado Cornejo took on a leading role in planning the event.
As a wheelchair-user himself, Delgado Cornejo used his personal experiences with disability and engineering research to shape the event into an engaging experience for attendees.
“My inspiration for this event was the idea that I, as an engineer and a person with a disability, was in a unique position to really start that conversation within my community,” he explained.
Delgado Cornejo also gave a talk at the event with Neil Dasgupta, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Matt Jastrzembowski, facilities manager for ME. The presentation focused on how they increased the accessibility of Dasgupta’s lab, where Delgado Cornejo is a research scientist, improving the conditions for all users of the space.
“Ultimately, the goal was for people in the audience to see my specific case, which is different from the cases of other people with disabilities, and maybe see themselves somewhere in there,” he said.
The event also featured a panel on how engineers can integrate accessibility into design. The panel consisted of four members from the U-M College of Engineering, University Health and Counseling, Queen’s University, and the Beautiful Minds Conference.
The panel addressed common concerns from disabled communities and how engineers and designers can bridge the gap between them. They explored strategies to improve accessibility in the research landscape and responded to audience questions, further discussing their involvement in disability advocacy and the future of accessibility in STEM.
An increased emphasis on audience participation was one aspect that set the 2025 symposium apart from previous years, Delgado Cornejo explained.
During the interactive panels, discussion prompts, and networking time, audience members were encouraged to contemplate the ideas presented and consider how the concepts impact student, faculty, and researcher perspectives across STEM disciplines.
“These parts of the event were highly successful,” Delgado Cornejo said. “They really allowed people to not just listen to the stories being told and the research being shared, but to reflect on it.”
In addition to increasing audience interaction during the event, inspiring attendees to consider accessibility in engineering as it relates to their work was also a key goal for the symposium. Collaborating with co-sponsors, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering, helped achieve this goal by featuring a variety of disciplines.
“We were lucky to have a fantastic group of presenters from CSE, ME, and School of Information, for an engaging and multidisciplinary day of talks,” said Yara El-Tawil, a first-year PhD student in Computer Science and Engineering, who helped organize the event. “Attendees from multiple backgrounds left with new information that is not just specific to ME or CSE, meaning they could integrate these ideas and thinking into their future work and discussions.”
Delgado Cornejo added that the breadth of ideas presented by students and faculty from ME and CSE allowed audience members to better understand the large scope of challenges and approaches to creating inclusive educational environments.
Hoping attendees took valuable information and new perspectives away from the 2025 symposium, Delgado Cornejo said his experience planning and running the event expanded his knowledge and viewpoint of accessibility in STEM fields.
“I think that as much as I wanted to help other people learn about disabilities, I learned just as much, if not more, myself,” he said. “It also really highlighted how important this work is for me personally, and how moving forward in my career, it’s something I hope to bring with me. I’m a researcher, I’m an engineer, but I’m also a disability advocate. That’s something I’ll take with me wherever I go.”