PERFORM: Performance Engineering and Research for Optimizing Response Mechanisms STC
The Performance Engineering and Research for Optimizing Response Mechanisms (PERFORM) Science and Technology Center is an ASU research and development center supported by the Arizona New Economy Initiative. STCs are responsible for leveraging ASU-industry partnerships to enable research innovation, entrepreneurship and tech transfer in areas key to the future of Arizona’s economy.
The PERFORM STC seeks to create technologies to positively impact health and well-being, improving humans’ cognitive and physical performance and medical outcomes across the lifespan. The PERFORM STC has three thrust areas: devices, assessment and performance multipliers.
Devices
Developing devices and associated data processing techniques that improve human health and performance, including sports equipment, biomedical devices, wearable health technology, educational technology and performance data analytics.
Assessment
Creating assessment technologies to analyze human mental, physical and emotional well-being and fitness with the goal of integrating wellness-inducing behaviors to optimize health, well-being and performance.
Performance multipliers
Advancing understanding of how devices and computers can utilize bio-interfaces to improve human performance, including for workers, athletes and individuals with disabilities.
PERFORM Training Certificate
Arizona State University’s Human-Centric Data Collection and Processing certificate is designed and developed to enhance professionals’ skills in biometrics. Developed by faculty from the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, the College of Health Solutions, and the PERFORM Science and Technology Center, this program is ideal for those individuals interested in learning or upskilling knowledge across the intersection of human performance, wellness, and technology. Learners will be introduced to topics including biometric data collection, processing, and visualization, preparing participants to turn raw data into actionable insights. Enrolling in this certificate program ensures you stay ahead in the fast-evolving field of human-centric data.
Course: Human Data Visualization
Course: Human Systems and Biological Signals
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PERFORM STC and Keystone Orthotropix: Enabling healthy facial development for children
In his 30 years of experience as a Phoenix-based dentist, Dr. Nafys “Sam” Samandari regularly encountered an all-too-common problem: due to insufficient growth of the upper palate of the mouth (the maxilla) during infancy, many of his patients faced conditions like obstructive sleep apnea, deviated septum and various dysfunctions of the jaw and surrounding muscles. “My father suffered from obstructive sleep apnea for decades, and he actually died early because of this,” Dr. Sam recalls. He founded Keystone OrthotropiX, which is partnering with researchers at ASU’s PERFORM Science and Technology Center to develop a pacifier that can strengthen the maxilla — the “keystone” of facial growth — in infants to enable healthy facial development and prevent debilitating conditions later in life.
At ASU’s PERFORM STC, Associate Professor of Engineering Keng Hsu is working with Dr. Sam to develop and refine prototypes of the Keystone OrthotropiX device. “I had firsthand observed the problems my son had breathing when he is sleeping, so it just directly resonated with me,” says Hsu. For Dr. Sam, Hsu’s expertise has been invaluable: “I had asked him about some of my geometries and concepts, and because he’s a materials scientist, he knows how materials work. And he provided the information to me about Proposers Day,” an opportunity to apply for co-investment and partnership with the PERFORM STC. The partnership is proving transformational for Dr. Sam’s ability to grow his company here in Arizona. The PERFORM STC is “a very good incubator bed for companies to think about and present their ideas. ASU has a wealth of amazingly smart scientists and researchers. There isn’t a high bar to cross to be able to engage with ASU. There is no one better out there than in your own backyard, because ASU is the number one innovator in the nation.”