The W.A.T. Team
CEO: Wendy Wilson
Ron Wilson was my older brother by 378 days
After founding Wilson Adaptive Technologies and designing our W.A.T. shower prototypes, my brother passed away in February of 2021. As a little girl, I thought of Ron as like a professor. He challenged me to think outside the box as he taught me critical thinking, listening, and problem-solving skills. One of the most important things that I learned from Ron was when I cared for him after his accident. In that time, he taught me about true compassion. Since his unexpected passing, I have taken over Wilson Adaptive Technologies as CEO, and my commitment to the company is to not only bring our adaptive showers to the market but to help change the adaptive tech market. My goals for WAT start with help our local communities access and deliver hygiene, and then to make an impact globally with better adaptive equipment for caregiving. I plan to grow WAT from a local Detroit initiative into a worldwide company that is the go-to for adaptable technologies that enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities, cognitive or physical challenges. At the same time, our company will be developing innovative community-based designs and initiatives that will focus on inclusive Adaptive tech designs for the wellness of humankind.
“Hygiene is a right, not a privilege.”
–Ron Wilson
These are words that were first spoken by Ron.
I come from an environment that demonstrated black women having to get through life on their own. Since taking over, I have had to learn to reach out to others for help. It was also challenging to address my psyche around being a black woman over 55 without a formal degree with a focus on “Tech”. To prepare to take over as CEO, I returned to formal learning. In the Summer of 2021, I completed the STEEP-Program at TechTown in Customer Discovery, Market Analysis, TAM-SAM-SOM, Business Models, and more.
Our partnership with Wayne State has sustained us through the pandemic and Ron’s passing. We are a company that focuses on adaptive and inclusive designs that help resolve everyday issues for differently-abled people worldwide, a company and a mission which is long overdue. I am committed to seeing the WAT showers come to fruition first, and not only reach the market, but change the market. Wilson Adaptive Technologies was Ron’s life, and it gave him purpose. Now, WAT has become my purpose.
Our Team
Dr. Jared Grogan
Tejas Karun
Marketing & Science Documentation Intern
A fourth-year student studying Biochemistry Honors and minoring in Philosophy while on the University Honors track. For Wilson Adaptive Technology (WAT), he is an intern helping out with marketing and with creating documents that showcase the science of the product. Working with WAT has been amazing for him as he wants to make an impact on the community and feels that the things WAT is doing are amazing.
Ashley Asimakopoulos
Technical & Professional Communication Intern
A graduate of Wayne State University in English and a minor in Professional Writing. For Wilson Adaptive Technologies, she is the Technical and Professional Communication Intern working on branding, networking, writing and designing for the website. Working with WAT has been rewarding to her as they are doing great work for the disabled community.
Randal Mills
Rama Al-Hakim
Company Documentation & Content Writer Intern
A graduate from Wayne State University through the honors program with an English Major and a triple minor in Business Administration, Spanish and Arabic Language Studies. Proofreads and edits team documents and opens lines of communications with team members. Works on strengthening the relationships Wilson Adaptive Technologies (WAT) has developed with community collaborators.
Aniqa Akther
Medical Writing Intern
A graduate of Wayne State University with a Bachelors in Neuroscience with a minor in English. She is a medical writing intern for Wilson Adaptive Technologies (WAT) looking to combine her love of writing and science. Working with WAT has been an eye opening experience for her as she is exploring the various modes of communication as well as solutions through writing and research in medicine.
Andrew Adomaitis
Web Design & Content Intern
A student who transferred from Oakland Community College to Wayne State University in 2022, Andrew is currently Majoring in Computer Science and pursuing a Minor in Professional Writing. For Wilson Adaptive Technologies, he is working on designing their website and writing content. He is very eager to help further WAT’s (and Ron Wilson’s) mission.
Ehimare Arhebamen
Accessibility Design Intern
A graduate from Wayne State with a bachelors in Anthropology in 2016, now pursuing a master’s degree in Medical Anthropology at Wayne State University. For Wilson Adaptive Technologies, he is working on the ADA standards and other accessibility design changes for the website. He’s ecstatic to help WAT fulfill Ron Wilson’s mission.
Lavender Calhoun
Accessibility Design Intern
A fourth-year studying Computer Science at Wayne State University. She is working on the web design team with Wilson Adaptive Technologies to write and update content for the site. As a person living with a disability herself, Lavender is happy to bring visibility to the many issues that the disabled community faces.
Our Collaborations
WAT is TechComm@TechTown’s Longest Running Partnership!!
The partnership with Ron and Wendy Wilson has been the longest and most fruitful relationship between a TechTown startup and students! Teams of students from Wayne State University have swarmed around Ron and Wendy Wilson to support WAT with WSU research, writing and design projects. Students have done public health research, engineering concept development, product design & testing, website development, usability/UX research, and market analysis. As Ron put it: “it is taking many hearts and minds to get this technology to the people who need it.” The WAT projects introduce students to collaborative work in Detroit’s startup culture. The students are learning at every step of the process, from interacting with entrepreneurs in problem solving, to developing niche technical skills or general skill-sets as researchers, writers and designers. Throughout the process, professors like Dr. Jared Grogan model, teach, scaffold and supervise the work to ensure our students and experts can collaborate and learn together.
TechComm@TechTown Supports Human-Centered Technologies
TechComm@TechTown is an educational partnership sponsored by Wayne State University and Dr. Jared Grogan, an English professor (Rhetoric and Composition, with an emphasis in Technical and Professional Communication). Dr. Grogan advises select TechTown startups, partners entrepreneurs with diverse classes, and coordinates internship opportunities. The partnership’s mission is to foster student learning through rich collaborative experiences with entrepreneurs who are enthusiastic about working with WSU instructors to design meaningful and mutually beneficial projects for students and startups. Together we take problem based learning, and design thinking approaches to research, writing and design projects that create opportunities for growth as students, startups and instructors. We can all benefit from rich collaborative work in writing, researching or designing professional technical communication projects, particularly those that support the development or use of human-centered technologies, or more equitable business and economic growth in Detroit. TechComm@TechTown projects typically center on the research and development of appropriate, adaptive, inclusive or intermediate technologies with commercializing potential. TechComm@TechTown students research, develop and critically review these technologies within the context of Detroit’s changing economy.