“Taking off,” “flying” and “landing” using a LIFESUIT powered brace mobility device is Monty Reed, executive director of the They Shall Walk Foundation at the University of Washington. Reed’s demonstration of the special suit, which was designed to help people in wheelchairs get up and moving, took place at Oct. 24 at Pierpont Commons during an Investing in Abilities Week event. After being injured in a parachute accident while serving as a U.S. Army Airborne ranger in 1986 that left him paralyzed—and inspired by the exosuit power battle armor depicted in Robert Heinlein’s 1959 film “Starship Troopers”—Reed set about designing and building the device using steel, plastic and aluminum parts. The suit also features an on-board computer. Reed, who achieved a 95 percent recovery after nine years of rehabilitation and the aid of Japanese technology, has used earlier LIFESUIT models to run a race. He currently is working on one with a 1,400-pound payload capacity, and says future models could allow astronauts to exercise while sleeping and firefighters to enter collapsed buildings. The event was sponsored by the Council for Disability Concerns, Division of Kinesiology, Kinesiology Student Government and the College of Engineering Dean’s Office. Photos by Scott Galvin, U-M Photo Services