"The conference fully supports the notion that disability is an international issue and that different countries have a unique opportunity to work together with the common interest of assistive technology," said Harry Rizer, director of CSUN's Center on Disabilities, which coordinates the event.

The conference will be held from March 19-24 at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport and Los Angeles Airport Marriott hotels near the Los Angeles International Airport.

"The event is largely an educational opportunity where clinicians, researchers and manufacturers all report on their findings," said Rizer. "It is an opportunity for people involved in the disability field to be exposed to a great deal of information in a condensed period of time."

More than 300 internationally-recognized speakers will focus on topics ranging from how colleges and universities are struggling to make technology accessible on their campuses to the employment of persons with disabilities and the role of assistive technology in workplace accommodations.

More than 160 exhibitors will display the latest in assistive technology for review by professionals in the field.

The list of exhibitors includes IBM Special Needs Systems, Rancho Los Amigos Medical Rehabilitation Center, American Foundation for the Blind, Synergy, Sun Microsystems and more.

Hockenberry won his first Peabody Award for his profile of a young man permanently injured during a drive-by shooting, a profile he created while hosting National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition Saturday". He received his second Peabody Award in 1990 for his work on "Heat", a daily two-hour public affairs program that he helped to create, co-produce, and host.

Hockenberry joined NBC in January 1996. His reporting for Dateline NBC earned him an Emmy Award.

He is also the author of Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence, a memoir of how his work as a foreign correspondent impacted the obstacles he faced as a paraplegic.

Hockenberry will give his keynote address at 7:30 a.m. on March 21.

For more information about the conference, call (818) 677-2578 or visit www.csun.edu/cod/.

California State University, Northridge has more than 27,000 full- and part-time students and offers 48 bachelor's and 39 master's degrees. Founded in 1958, it is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley.