RERC on Technologies to Support Aging-in-Place for People with Long-Term Disabilities

An interdisciplinary collaboration between Georgia Tech and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technologies to Support Aging-in-Place for People with Long-Term Disabilities (RERC TechSAge) is a collaborative grant center based at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Founded in 2013, TechSAge features multidisciplinary research, development, and training projects that are dedicated to understanding the needs of, and developing supportive technologies for, people aging with long-term disabilities.

Collage of TechSAge graduating student headshots (class of 2021)

News

Congratulations to our 2021 graduating TechSAge students at Georgia Tech and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. We are proud of everything you have accomplished and all your success to come. Thank you for your contributions to our center. Georgia Tech graduates: Avinandan Basu (MS Human Computer Interaction), Suzanne Eastwood (Psychology), Lisa Le (Business Administration), and Eve (Yangyi) Xu (MS Human Computer Interaction). Illinois graduates: Alex Fliflet (MS Kinesiology), Saahithya Gowrishankar (Global Studies), Olivia Kupiec (Interdisciplinary Health Sciences), Jennifer Lee (Interdisciplinary Health Sciences), and Satvika Veeravalli (Systems Engineering & Design).

Featured Article:

Assessment of sitting balance is essential to establish rehabilitation goals among wheelchair users. The ability to remotely assess sitting balance in this population can be especially useful when individuals are unable to engage in face-to-face clinic visits due to health concerns, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, limited transportation resources, or proximity to knowledgeable professionals. New TechSAge research, led by Jacob Sosnoff, examines the feasibility and preliminary reliability and validity of remote sitting balance assessment among wheelchair users. Learn more in the International Journal of Rehabilitation Research article, by Libak Abou, Laura Rice, Mikaela Frechette, and Jacob Sosnoff. Full article available upon request.

Latest TechSAge Publications:

Staff Spotlight:

Mikaela Frechette is a Siebel Center for Design Scholar and doctoral student in the Disability Participation & Quality of Life Research Laboratory within the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at Illinois. Her research interests include the design and development of health technology and systems for clinical populations. These interests align well with her involvement on TechSAge, which includes assisting with the evaluation of a smartphone-based fall risk health application for wheeled devices users (Steady Wheels project) and the development of a fall detection device for non-ambulatory adults (Monitoring and Managing Falls project). When she’s not working or studying, Mikaela enjoys camping, yoga, outdoor sports, and knitting.

Staff Spotlight

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TechSAge research is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number #90REGE0006-01-00 ). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).