On October 2nd, 2024, the McKechnie Family LIFE Home opened its doors for a fall open house, inviting visitors to experience firsthand the innovative research happening within the facility. Guests had the opportunity to interact with researchers, advanced technologies, and robotics demonstrations. Faculty, post-docs, graduate and undergraduate students showcased their work, sparking engaging conversations about […]
The McKechnie Family LIFE Home had the honor of welcoming 20 Veterans from the Warrior-Scholar Project to our facility on July 25th, 2024. These Veterans have been participating in “academic boot camp” where they explore college research in preparation for the beginning of their own university experience. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign hosted some activities for them, including […]
The McKechnie Family LIFE Home was excited to host a group of middle school students from Oakland STEM camp for a tour on June 18th, 2024. Outreach and Engagement Specialist of the Midwest Big Data Innovation Hub, J.D. Graham, brought the kids on a field trip to the University of Illinois as a way to […]
On Tuesday, June 18th, 2024, the McKechnie Family LIFE Home staff had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. John Coleman, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost of the University of Illinois Urabana-Champaign, as well as Dr. Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, Dean of Applied Health Sciences. This was Dr. Coleman’s first time at the facility. He was […]
Praachi Mudar, a Junior at the University Laboratory High School, interned at the LIFE Home this summer. Praachi is gearing up to follow the pre-med track in college with an aspiration to become a doctor. This summer allowed her to explore robots and assistive technology, and it piqued her interest in the intersectionality between medicine […]
We’re thrilled to share an inspiring account of our summer intern’s time at McKechnie Family Life Home. Dive into their blog post to discover the meaningful experiences and valuable lessons gained during this enriching internship. We were delighted to have them as part of our team and are proud of the contributions they made this […]
The Stretch project aims to refine and broaden the functional capabilities of Stretch, a mobile manipulator robot, to support older adults with a range of cognitive and physical impairments. This diverse team of engineering, human factors, and neurocognition experts allows for effective modifications of Stretch to best help individuals with a range of impairments. Investigators […]
On April 18th, 2024, the McKechnie Family LIFE Home had the pleasure of welcoming guests for an open house to explore the research conducted at the facility. The attendees interacted with the researchers, robots, and all the technologies. Research demonstrations were given by faculty, post-docs, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The guests included Jim and […]
Yvona Vlach joined the McKechnie Family LIFE Home team in April 2024 as our Operations Coordinator. She is responsible for all general office and LIFE Home operations; serves as the first point of contact for clients and visitors; coordinates client reservations and visits of the research center; provides support to the LIFE Home team; and […]
The McKechnie Family LIFE Home was pleased to welcome Dr. Chris Wickens during his visit on Tuesday April 16th, 2024. Dr. Wickens is a renowned scientist who has made important and lasting contributions to psychological science. He taught engineering and experimentalpsychology, human factors engineering, and aviation psychology for 30 years at the University of Illinois […]