Sidney Collin is the inventor of NexStride and is the co-founder and CEO of De Oro Devices. NexStride is the first retrofit solution that attaches to any cane or walker and uses clinically proven visual and audio cues to help people with Parkinson’s overcome freezing of gait.

After creating an initial prototype, she saw how much this device was able to improve the veteran's quality of life. She realized that there was an incredible need for such a device in the broader Parkinson's community.
Name: Sidney Collin, Inventor of NexStride, and Co-Founder and CEO of De Oro Devices
School: Cal Poly
Graduation Date: March 2019
Major/Minor: Biomedical Engineering; I minored in Math, but I am one credit shy because I wanted to graduate early to start my company.
Why did you choose your major? I always wanted to use technology to help people. Technology is often used for entertainment purposes, which is great, but it can also be used to help people live better lives. Technology combined with my interest in how the body works helped me decide what I wanted to study. When I was in high school, I watched a TED Talk on Prosthetic Arms. After I watched that, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.
When did you decide to create your own company? After I gave the QL+ Challenger, Jack Brill, the prototype of the device, he brought me to a support group for people living with Parkinson’s Disease. I knew then that this device could help many people.
Tell us about the QL+ Challenger you worked with at Cal Poly. Jack Brill is a Korean War Veteran diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Working with Jack made this project real. It wasn’t just another engineering problem to solve. Knowing that the work I was doing was going to help him gave me a connection to what I was doing. Jack is a good friend of mine. I play chess with him and attend support group meetings with him.

Any words of wisdom to our QL+ students? It’s doable. When I started this project, I didn’t know I’d have to build code and learn electrical engineering. My professor handed me a book, and I figured it out. I started building code. You can figure it out!
Click HERE for more information about NexStride.
Click HERE for more information about NexStride.