Schlegel and Sondergaard selected to present to the Alliance for the American Dream

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Congrats to BME seniors Jen Schlegel and Anders Sondergaard for being selected to present to the Alliance for the American dream! Alliance for the American dream is a network of communities, each anchored by a public research university, that will provide access to capital and access to market for new ideas to support distressed communities locally. Schlegel and Sondergaard pitched their idea titled 119 Power to the Patient: A subscription-based service for use on a smartwatch or smartphone to help the chronically ill reduce the number of unnecessary emergency room visits, directly combating social and monetary costs of disability.

119 is a technological system designed to give a chronic illness community member a way to communicate their needs to bystanders in a moment of perceived medical emergency and express their wishes for that situation. Through directions predetermined by the individual, a bystander is able to know if the individual is experiencing a typical event in their daily life or an emergency and who they should call.

119 was inspired by Jennifer Schlegel’s experience as a student with multiple (14), complex health issues. Schlegel recalls her experience of meeting with Sondergaard and how it became the starting point for 119. “Anders and I met on a bad health day. My experience with trying to communicate to the bystanders around me, like Anders, when I legitimately needed 911 versus when I needed 5 minutes and a glass of water was the starting point for what 119 became.” She ultimately hopes that 119 can redefine what constitutes a medical emergency for the chronic illness and disability community and when it is appropriate to call 911 for medical circumstances.

Schlegel started the hybrid company Beenabled L.L.C out of necessity for wanting to solve some basic life problems so that she could have the same quality of education as the rest of her able-bodied peers. Before she started Beenabled, Schlegel would give weekend startup pitches to relieve stress from school, voice her own personal quality-of-life problems, and express solutions she wished people were building. Beenabled became a formalized entity when these pitches started receiving funding and awareness. She describes the name of the company and her plans for the future, “The name comes from an expression I think of often - that disabled doesn't mean unable, it just means needing help to be enabled. Medical school has always been my aspiration and will continue to be so; however, there are so many barriers to entry to that goal for me and so many others that I accidentally created a startup to help facilitate solutions to these large and vastly unrecognized issues.” . Beenabled, for the long term, is envisioned as a mobility/sustainability/accessibility engineering design firm working on everything from concept to manufacturing prototype. Accessibility is an invisible thread that connects us all but is often overlooked or siloed as an afterthought. She believes that integrated accessibility can exist in our society, providing better life for all, and a firm needs to exist with that focus.

For the short term, Schlegel and Sondergaard have three active concepts- - Handikapp, Handicom & 119. Handikapp is a platform to assist limited dexterity coders. How does one code if one can't use a keyboard or mouse well? This comes from Schlegel’s experience in BME 2700 and 3703. Handikapp is being brought to life with a team from Engineers for Community Service. Handicom, a platform for limited dexterity users who want to do written work, is the 2020 President's Prize Winner and will be created over the 2020-2021 school year. How do you do written work, draw a diagram, or study for Ochem if you can't hold a pencil? This has been her experience since 2016.

Schlegel and Sondergaard got involved with Alliance by chance. Beth Frey, the program organizer, happened to be at the final showcase for the 2019 Seachange Social Entrepreneurship accelerator cohort that they participated in over the summer and was enthusiastic that they apply.

The current active team consists of :

Jen Schlegel, Founder - OSU BME senior, ADAC

Anders Sondergaard, Project(s) Manager - OSU BME senior on 4/5 years

(and a variety of weekend consultants that are OSU alumni and Columbus Social Enterprise community members.) 

They are currently looking to expand their team and as part of the Alliance and are looking to build further partnerships with OSU staff and the broader community.