On October 4th, 2023, McKechnie Family LIFE Home staff members attended the 2023 Chittenden Symposium at the I-Hotel. This symposium brought faculty and students together from the Departments of Kinesiology & Community Health and Industrial and Enterprise System Engineering at Illinois. We presented a poster about the LIFE Home to share our resources and describe […]
The McKechnie Family LIFE Home welcomes two new robots to the facility: PARO and Moxie. PARO is a therapeutic robot that is designed to provide emotional support and companionship. PARO’s features include interactive sensors that allow it to respond to its environment and interact meaningfully. It responds to human contact by making various sounds, moving […]
Ketan is a recent graduate with a master’s in Information Management from the School of Information Science. He is has previous software engineering experience currently interning at the Lifehome where he helps develop accessible technology for the different robots at the facility. He is passionate about software and wireless technology. He believes his work will […]
On August 3rd, 2023, we held an open house for the Master of Science in Health Technology (MS-HT) Program at the McKechnie Family LIFE Home. We had the pleasure of being visited by the McKechnie family and MS-HT Advisory Board members, students, faculty, and otherguests. The LIFE Home staff was pleased to show off the […]
Laura Dudzik is a junior studying Food Science and Human Nutrition with a minor in Food Science. She is passionate about the longevity of human health and interested in how technology can improve the quality of living for those with disabilities. She plans to go become a Physician Assistant (PA) and seek to aid patients to […]
Joanna Huang is a junior studying Computer Science and minoring in Disability Studies and Interdisciplinary Health Technology. She is passionate about accessible computing and assistive technology. In particular, she aims to utilize software to facilitate daily tasks for individuals with disabilities and enable them to live with greater independence. Her current work with the Stretch […]
Sierra Speckmann is the current intern for CHART (Collaborations Health, Aging, Research, and Technology). She also works as an intern for McKechnie Family Life Home. She currently attends the University of Illinois as a Business and Communication Major and hopes to one day have a career in Marketing! Her research interests include neighborhood influence on […]
Maya Grant is a junior studying Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Math. She is passionate about increasing representation in higher education and in STEM. Her main research interest is robotics, specifically, soft robotics that use compliant materials to mimic natural movement. Her current work with the Stretch RE1 Robot involves creating a soft robotic gripper […]