IATP Judges the IDEA State Design Competition Finals
IATP Makers worked with the Illinois Design Educators Association (IDEA) helping to inspire a prompt for their engineering design competition. High school teams from across the state come up with a design solution for a prompt provided. The Maker team reached out to Michael Knepler, a member of the IATP board of directors, who has a spinal cord injury, to ask what product he would like to challenge students to create. He requested a grabber that was more efficient than the typical commercial grabber products that are readily available and that would be more suitable to his needs.
Teams first competed at the regional level, then winning teams moved to compete at the state level. The Makers team and Michael were a part of the judging panel at the state competition to decide the winning product.
Congratulations to Plano High School (Joe Kampf) students Caidan Ronning, Rider Larson and Isaac Uhrich for finishing 1st place! Their “Bat Tool” featured a collapsable grabber that extended to reach objects by pressing a button. IATP also extends congratulations and thanks to all the teams that participated. Overall, the engineering prompt gave students the opportunity to practice engineering skills while designing a needed product for a customer. Contact the Maker team if you are an Illinois resident in need of a unique design that you would like to submit for consideration for next year’s competition.
IATP Recent Activities
ISU SEAT Center Spring Open House – Focus on IATP Makers
IATP has partnered with the Illinois State University (ISU) Special Education Assistive Technology (SEAT) Center throughout the 2024-2025 academic year on a variety of activities and events aimed at strengthening the knowledge of AT devices and services for students preparing to become teachers in both general and special education classrooms.
On March 18, 2025, part two of a training series offered by IATP at the SEAT Center lab took place during their Spring Open House event. The training was designed to not only familiarize students and faculty with IATP but also focus on targeted topics specific to the integration of AT in the classroom. The March 18th training featured the IATP Makers Program and how custom AT can be designed, manufactured, and implemented across educational settings. Real life case studies highlighting some of the Makers recent success stories along with hands-on demonstrations of devices, helped attendees better understand the process of custom AT fabrication. Participants also discussed ways to identify and build relationships with makers in their own local school districts. Attendees included students and faculty from serval majors such as special education, physical education, music education, family and consumer science, and blind/low vision instruction.
IATP STEAM Activities
The IATP Maker Program has participated in several STEAM-focused IDEA Regional Competitions around Illinois as well as the Career SPARK Expo in Quincy.
Check out the IATP Maker Website to see all upcoming STEAM events.
IATP at ATIA
Members of the IATP staff recently attended the 2025 Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) conference where they were able to learn about some of the latest assistive technology options and programs. IATP staff shared their expertise by providing conference sessions that highlighted the very successful impact of the Illinois Care Connections Program and the Tech Kitchen program. Information on program design, implementation, impact, and growth was shared so that the programs could be replicated in other states. Contact us for more information on these programs and be sure to visit the recently updated Tech Kitchen website!
Check out the Updated IATP Maker Website!
The IATP Maker Team is proud to unveil our new website (makers.iltech.org)!
The Maker Program has come a long way since it was formed, and we hope our new site reflects that evolution. Please take a moment to check it out by clicking the button below!
We’ve streamlined and combined the process to order a custom or existing product, added forums for volunteers and STEAM programs, and more.
We work directly with Illinois residents and your feedback is important to us. If you have suggestions or just want to reach out, visit our Contact Page and a member of our team will be in touch.
We hope you enjoy the new IATP Maker website!
Senior AmeriCorps Volunteers at IATP
The Illinois Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation (HAP) reached out to IATP in May about a possible collaboration between them and IATP to provide opportunities for senior AmeriCorps volunteers. The purpose of the program is to help the volunteers gain skills as Community Health Workers and be able to re-enter the work force.
After an IATP presentation for the AmeriCorps group, two volunteers contacted IATP and started the beginning of October. For the next five months they will help with consumer follow-up activities for the ICC and Tech Kitchen programs. They are also helping the Reuse program and Demonstration Center with processing returned equipment and preparing devices for use by others in need. Two more volunteers joined IATP in November.
These volunteer efforts are a great help to IATP. Contact us for more information regarding other volunteer opportunities.
Thank you OCI Therapy and All Who Donated!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2024 OCI Therapy 5K benefitting the Illinois Assistive Technology Program!
Your donations directly benefit the people who use our services, providing options for those who might not be covered by other programs.