Assistive robots offer tremendous potential to support older adults, individuals with disabilities, family care partners, and health care providers. One such assistive robot, Stretch, is designed to assist with everyday activities and opens a host of opportunities to expand the range of support that can be provided.
A team of researchers led by Wendy Rogers, a professor of health and kinesiology and an affiliate of the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI), works with partners at ClarkLindsey Life Plan Community to test the potential of Stretch for supporting both residents and staff. The partnership will ultimately allow the Stretch design team at Hello Robot to tailor the robotic support to the care demands and interests of the care partners at ClarkLindsey.
Several Illinois undergraduate students have been involved in this project as part of IHSI’s Community-Academic Scholars program. Shuoning (Stone) Shi, now a first-year Ph.D. student studying informatics, was a 2024 CAS scholar. He recommends the program for anyone interested in research.
“You’re not just working alone or with a scientist, you will receive career connections, community engagement, and most importantly, you will be valued,” Shi said.
You’re not just working alone or with a scientist, you will receive career connections, community engagement, and most importantly, you will be valued.
After his formative experience in the CAS program, Shi recommended the program to Yuheng (Leo) Wang, a fellow Illinois student studying industrial design with a concentration on human-centered technology. At the time, Wang was focused primarily on the artistic side of design, with little research experience. He was drawn to the opportunity to work directly with members of the community.
“The biggest takeaway from the program was the community engagement aspect. Because without understanding real people, all the data in the world wouldn’t make the practical difference,” said Wang.
The biggest takeaway from the program was the community engagement aspect. Because without understanding real people, all the data in the world wouldn’t make the practical difference.
Shi and Wang also teamed up to conduct in-depth user research at the McKechnie Family LIFE Home to design a cleaning module for the Stretch robot as part of the TechSAge Pitch Competition project.
The Community-Academic Scholars program launched in 2018 and relies on a support from various sources to continue each year. Wang was one of four undergraduate students supported by the Edward Heiken Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute Fund in 2025 for research that will have significant impact on studies of cognitive and brain health.
For the past three years, Rogers has mentored two scholars per year and provided grant funding for one of the scholars to advance her lab’s research. Rogers credits the Community-Academic Scholars Program with bringing new energy and talent to their research.
“The Community Academic Scholars Program has been a wonderful opportunity for the Human Factors & Aging Laboratory to engage top notch students in our research projects. They are able to work on teams with our community partners and industry partners to design and test technology that will support successful aging. Many of the students continue as research assistants in our lab after their summer in the program. They are always energetic, creative, smart, and hard-working – we are lucky to have them!” Rogers said.
The Community-Academic Scholars will be featured as part of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Orange and Blue Days, March 4-6, 2026. More information on how to support the program can be found on the IHSI website.