Pedorthist successful in round one of the Australian National Industry PhD Program

Sayed Ahmed, PhD Candidate and Certified Pedorthist Custom Maker from Australia, has a research project accepted in the first round of the Australian National Industry PhD program in collaboration with Charles Sturt University and Foot Balance Technology.

The Australian Government is investing $296 million under the Increase Workforce Mobility initiative. This includes funding to establish the National Industry PhD Program, which aims to develop research talent that is skilled in university-industry collaboration. An Industry PhD is a doctoral program that is designed with an industry application. PhD candidates work on a research project co-designed by the university and industry, under appropriate academic and industry supervision. The program is intended to equip PhD candidates with the knowledge and skills to translate university research into commercialisation outcomes.

Sayed Ahmed’s projects aims to address the general issue of generic medical care and assistive device prescription for people with diabetic-related foot disease by utilizing and advancing artificial intelligence to guide personalized device prescripitons.

Sayed Ahmed is the Founder and CEO of Foot Balance Technology, a creative business model that provides pedorthic services to clients with various foot problems and conditions through primary and allied health clinics. As a certified pedorthist custom maker in Australia, he has over 12 years of experience in lower limb biomechanics, gait assessment, foot problem diagnosis, and design and manufacture of foot orthoses, ankle foot orthoses, and custom orthopedic footwear. He is also completing a Ph.D. in the area of diabetes foot care and footwear through the School of Health and Human Science at Southern Cross University.