Mauro Ávila

In the Spring of 2019, Mauro Avila earned a PhD from the University of Stuttgart in Germany.  Mauro’s studies and research related to human-computer interaction and accessibility. His research was conducted primarily with blind people in Panama. Said Mauro, “For me as a blind person, this work represents blind people working to support other blind people.” Besides his PhD, his efforts led to a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Ilmenau Technical University in Germany.

 

Most of Mauro’s support came from the Panamanian government and long-time Bud Keith Fund collaborator Ted Henter. The government funding ended in December, three months before the start of Mauro’s fellowship. Ted asked us to help him fill the funding gap, which we did.

 

Born in the Canal Zone, Ted is a blind software entrepreneur who developed the JAWS screen reader. JAWS made Windows computers accessible to the blind. Over the years, Ted has given the Bud Keith Fund advice, spoke at a career seminar we sponsored, and met with some of our Bud Keith scholars.

 

Mauro says that when his fellowship ends, he plans to return to Panama. “I hope to be able to support ... Bud Keith Scholarships program in its work to assist people with visual impairments in Panama.” So you may not have heard the last of Mauro.