Dave Brienza is an electrical engineer that has been investigating, developing, and evaluating technology for mobility (wheelchairs) and tissue integrity management (seat cushions and mattresses) for the last 28 years. He is a professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology and Associate Dean for Research in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences with additional faulty appointments in the Department of Bioengineering and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He has served as the Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Wheeled Mobility (2001-2004), Director of the RERC on Telerehabilitation (2004-2015) and Director of the RERC on Spinal Cord Injury (2007-2013). Brienza has an extensive record of federal funding and publication in the area of rehabilitation technology.
The scope of his work ranges from technology development in the seating and mobility, to investigations on the physiological responses to mechanical and heat loading, to clinical effectiveness research in the form of large-scale RCTs. He is the inventor on seven patents related to technology for people with disabilities.
