IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2016 - 4

BacK StorY_
editor in chief

Susan Hassler, s.hassler@ieee.org

Hitting the Slopes-Literally

executive editor

Glenn Zorpette, g.zorpette@ieee.org
editorial director, digital

Harry Goldstein, h.goldstein@ieee.org

a r en Lightm a n , executive director of the MEMS & Sensors

managing editor

Industry Group, knew of course that microelectromechanical
systems were being used in all sorts of industrial and
consumer products. But a ski accident in 2013 gave her a
whole new perspective on them.
Lightman and her then 8-year-old daughter were taking
a break at the side of a trail at a small ski resort in western
Pennsylvania. They were waiting for the rest of their family
to catch up when a skier, shooting down the mountain out of control,
collided with another adult above them, causing both to tumble down
the mountain. Lightman dove to try to shield her daughter from the
impact, but she wasn't fast enough; they both hit their heads hard on
the icy slope. Although they were wearing helmets, the impact was
jarring. The MRIs revealed no
damage, but Lightman quickly
began showing symptoms of a
concussion, which triggered a
migraine headache and yet had
no lasting effects. Her daughter
seemed fine, she recalls, so she
sent her to school the next day.
But shortly after she arrived
at school, Lightman's daughter
passed out on her desk. She was
then diagnosed with a severe
concussion. She ended up
needing round-the-clock care
for three months, and it took six
months for her to fully recover.
"I began thinking about how sensors could have prevented this, or at
least gotten her treatment sooner," Lightman said. "We should have
sensors on all helmets; if we had data indicating that this had been a
concussion-worthy hit, the emergency room doctors likely would have
treated this differently. I also thought that we should have sensors on ski
passes. If someone is skiing like a jerk, too fast or inebriated, they could
be reprimanded or taken off the slopes before they hurt someone."
Now, she's encouraged that the technology is becoming more
mainstream, Lightman says. It is moving into mouth guards, making it
useful in sports like girls' lacrosse, in which helmets aren't typically worn.
Indeed, Lightman spotted MEMS and sensor technology in all sorts of
smart sports gear exhibited this past January at CES, in Las Vegas. In this
issue's "Silicon Gets Sporty," she explains the trends behind the boom.
But the ski-jerk detector? We're still waiting for that one. n

Elizabeth A. Bretz, e.bretz@ieee.org
senior art director

Mark Montgomery, m.montgomery@ieee.org
senior editors

Stephen Cass (Resources), cass.s@ieee.org
Erico Guizzo (Digital), e.guizzo@ieee.org
Jean Kumagai, j.kumagai@ieee.org
Samuel K. Moore (News), s.k.moore@ieee.org
Tekla S. Perry, t.perry@ieee.org
Philip E. Ross, p.ross@ieee.org
David Schneider, d.a.schneider@ieee.org
Brandon Palacio, b.palacio@ieee.org
Randi Klett, randi.klett@ieee.org
associate art director Erik Vrielink, e.vrielink@ieee.org
deputy art director

photography director

senior associate editors

Rachel Courtland, r.courtland@ieee.org
Eliza Strickland, e.strickland@ieee.org
associate editor

Celia Gorman (Multimedia), celia.gorman@ieee.org
video producer Kristen Clark, kristen.clark@ieee.org
assistant editor Willie D. Jones, w.jones@ieee.org
senior copy editor Joseph N. Levine, j.levine@ieee.org
copy editor Michele Kogon, m.kogon@ieee.org
editorial researcher Alan Gardner, a.gardner@ieee.org
administrative assistant

Ramona L. Foster, r.foster@ieee.org
contributing editors

Evan Ackerman, Mark Anderson, John Blau, Robert N.
Charette, Peter Fairley, Tam Harbert, Mark Harris, David
Kushner, Robert W. Lucky, Paul McFedries, Prachi Patel,
Richard Stevenson, Lawrence Ulrich, Paul Wallich
Peter Tuohy
Roy Carubia
senior electronic layout specialist Bonnie Nani
director, periodicals production services
editorial & Web production manager

Shannan Brown
Jacqueline L. Parker
multimedia production specialist Michael Spector
product manager, digital

Web production coordinator

editorial advisory board

Susan Hassler, Chair; David Brock, Jason Cong*, Sudhir Dixit,
Limor Fried, Robert Hebner, Joseph J. Helble, Grant Jacoby, Leah
Jamieson, Deepa Kundur, Norberto Lerendegui, Steve Mann,
Allison March, Jacob Østergaard, Umit Ozguner, Thrasos Pappas,
John Rogers, Jonathan Rothberg, Umar Saif, Takao Someya,
Yu Zheng, Kun Zhou, Edward Zyszkowski
* Chinese-language edition
editorial / advertising correspondence

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Mar 2016

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2016