Neil Scott
Director, The Archimedes Project


"Making technology simple does not mean making it dumb."

For nearly three decades, Neil Scott has worked to extend access to computers and information appliances, including to the elderly and people with disabilities. His current efforts include collaborating on the development of standards for human-centered interfaces to computers and designing innovative technologies to assist the elderly and people with disabilities as well as interfaces for smart houses and appliances and safer cars.

One of his inventions, the Total Access System (U.S. Patent 6083270), which provides universal access to computer and other electronic devices through such technologies as speech recognition, head tracking, and eye tracking, was named among the five top innovations in computer hardware by Discover Magazine.

Born and educated in New Zealand, he served as Dean of the School of Physics, Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Wellington Polytechnic, in Wellington, New Zealand, where he spearheaded computer design, education, and training and became involved with adapting technology to serve people with disabilities. After emigrating to the United States in 1986, for two years he consulted in disability and subsequently developed and for five years directed one of the world's first major Computer Access Labs for students with disabilities at California State University, Northridge.

His seminal influence on shaping how people will live, think, work, and play in the new millennium won him recognition as a leading futurist (San Francisco Magazine, January 2000). A reviewer of disability-related grants for the National Science Foundation, he has served on several White House committees on access issues.

Daniel Gillette
Research Associate

"Tools should allow you to focus on the task at hand, not the tool in hand."

Dan Gillette addresses the educational and psychological dimensions of using tools.

His current focus is on developing education and communication tools that not only assist people with disabilities but enhance educational opportunities for all. To identify, design, and develop such tools, he is involved in establishing partnerships with schools, universities, research organizations, and companies. He also continues to counsel individuals, schools, clinical training centers, and businesses in the areas of learning disabilities, instructional design, and educational technology. Additionally, he serves as chair of the Innovative Technology in Autism (ITA) committee at Cure Autism Now (CAN).

Before focusing on educational psychology, Dan had a ten-year career as a composer and musician, which continues to inform his work in such projects as sonic accessors and the V-TAP. He holds an Ed.M in cognitive science, psychology and instructional design from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in human development from Lesley College Graduate School.

Anne Knight
Director of Communications

"The value of being able to access information and control one's environment seems obvious. The challenge lies in fostering a full appreciation of the difference in people's lives between possessing-or lacking-these abilities and how individual researchers, the information technology industry, and governments worldwide can collaborate to make information available in ways that benefit all of us."

Anne Knight has responsibility for communicating Archimedes Project objectives and achievements.

Working with The Archimedes team, she maintains the Web site, issues press releases, creates brochures, and assists with grant proposals and the publication of research efforts. She also serves as public relations liaison.

After receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees in English literature from Harvard, where she was also a Teaching Fellow for five years, she taught at the University of Massachusetts (Boston) and Lesley College (Cambridge, MA). Subsequently, she was an editor at a book publisher and staff writer at two national magazines. Since moving to Silicon Valley in 1986, she managed communications and public relations for several high-tech and Internet companies and worked as a freelance writer and editor.

Sandra Thalen Horwitz
Manager of Administrative Services

"When an organization's business is as vital as The Archimedes' Project's-leveraging technology for universal benefit, it's vital to leverage our resources as strategically as possible."

Sandra Horwitz oversees day-to-day operations of The Archimedes Project. Additionally, she draws upon her experience in strategic business planning as Archimedes' liaison with its associated organizations, AARTI, AARTI Holdings, and The Archimedes Foundation that develop prototypes based on Archimedes' research, license prototypes, and seek support, respectively.

Before joining The Archimedes Project, she was for six years Director of Finance for a successful Silicon Valley start-up company, INVESRools, Inc., where she also managed administration and human resources. Previously, for four years as a management consultant with Grant Thornton, LLP, she operated the minority Business Development Center in San Jose; consulted with minority-owned businesses in Santa Clara, , CA; and prepared financial projections to assist businesses obtain debt or equity financing. As a contract specialist with Oracle Corporation, she negotiated, drafted, and implemented OEM and VAR contracts.

Sandra holds an MBA from the University of Oregon and a B.A. in Business Administration from Nijjenrode, The Netherlands School of Business.

Kevin Gill
Computer Support Specialist

"'When pigs fly' signifies something impossible. At Archimedes, the pigs are flying."

"Seeing the smile on people's faces when they can do what they've never done before-for me, that's what Archimedes is all about."

Kevin Gill provides support for, personalization services, and training on the use of innovative adaptive technology for computers and information appliances.

After graduation from high school, he earned certificates from many leading computer-industry manufacturers. He put his expertise with multiple hardware platforms and operating systems to work for two years in the computer lab of Disabled Programmers Inc. (DPI), a non-profit organization in San Jose, CA, that trains persons with disabilities for employment in information technology. At DPI, he identified and integrated the hardware and software components that best satisfied individuals' unique needs and helped train DPI clients in their use.

Since 1998, he has been an anchor for The Archimedes Project, where he not only provides support for existing technology but is also involved in the design of next-generation adaptive solutions.