Dr Sarah Woodin

Profile

I am a Senior Research Fellow working as a social scientist on the Suitceyes project, researching user needs in relation to haptic technology.  I qualified with a BSc in Sociology and Psychology from Brunel University, later completing my MA and then PhD at the School of Sociology and Social Policy.at Leeds University. Between 2008  and 2016 I taught a wide range of social science subjects, at all levels, at Leeds and researched on international collaborative projects concerned with disabled people. I am also a visiting fellow with the School of Sociology and Social Policy. 

Before entering academia I led a number of national and local projects concerned with ensuring the right of disabled people to equally participate in society.  This included national co-ordination of the TSI network  as part of a national initiative on developing leadership for supported employment for people with learning difficulties in the UK, as well as establishing a number of other leadership organisations that remain in place today. 

Research interests

My overall research interests focus on disability and independent living in the broadest sense, usually in an international and interdisciplinary context. Current work concerns the social context of scientific innovations and the realities of accessing haptic technology in practice for people who are Deafblind. This research includes machine learning, sensor technologies, image and signal processing, psychophysics, and affective computing as well as the broader social analysis for which I am responsible. 

Qualifications

• PhD (Leeds) Title: Social Relationships and Disabled People: the impact of direct payments
• MA Disability Studies (Leeds): Distinction
• BSc (Hons) Sociology and Psychology

Professional memberships

• Associate of the Higher Education Academy

Research groups and institutes

• Institute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing