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Our work spans human-material interactions in medical devices, robotics workforce development, and design tools.
Research interests:
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Soft Robotics
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Surgical Tool and Medical Device Design
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Social and Behavior Studies
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Engineering Education Research
See Publications for our latest published work in these areas.
Current Projects:
CAREER: Supporting Professional Formation of Robotics Engineers through a Human-Centered Design Approach, National Science Foundation (2025-Present)
This project builds on pilot work to conduct a mixed-methods, longitudinal study of the impact of human-centered soft robotics on student career attitudes. Understanding more deeply how human-centered design can create an enriching educational environment will fundamentally change approaches to engineering education to recruit roboticists and engineers to meet society's most significant technical challenges.
Associated papers:
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Golecki HM. Engaging students with soft robotics. Nature Reviews Bioengineering. 3(11):912–3, 2025.
Design Optimization and Manufacturing Control in Hybrid Material Actuators, Sandia National Laboratory (2025-Present)
In this project, we aim to explore additive manufacturing techniques for creating biomaterial soft actuators. Our goal is that materials-based robotic designs will enable future micromachines and medical devices.
Associated papers:
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Kaufman G, Jimenez J, Bradshaw A, Radecka A, Gallegos M, Kaehr B, Golecki HM. A Stiff‐Soft Composite Fabrication Strategy for Fiber Optic Tethered Microtools. Advanced Materials Technologies, 8(12):2202034, 2023.
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Kulkarni M, Edward S, Golecki T, Kaehr B, Golecki H. Soft robots built for extreme environments. Soft Sci; 5(1), 2025.
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Golecki HM. Engaging students with soft robotics. Nature Reviews Bioengineering. 3(11):912–3, 2025.
Development of an active wheelchair seat cushion to address pressure injuries, Jump ARCHES (2024-Present)
In this project, we explore clinical perspectives and new manufacturing methods to understand the development of user-specific wheelchair seat cushions.
Associated papers:
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Robinson J, Shewalkar V, Rigo I, Rock A, Cinnamon L, Chapman-Rienstra D, et al. Design of a Custom Sensing and Actuating Cushion for Use in Pressure Relief in Wheelchair Users. 2023 Design of Medical Devices Conference. Minneapolis, MN, USA: American Society of Mechanical Engineers; 2023.
SIIP and Share: Podcasts to Connect the Engineers of Grainger COE (2024-Present)
In this project, we are prototyping podcasts to share the education, design, and research innovations of faculty, students, and alumni of the Grainger College of Engineering. We also evaluate the use of podcasts in engineering courses. We use the self-determination theory framework to understand how podcasts related to course content motivate students toward career related design activities.
Project website
Associated papers:
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Golecki H, Chang W, Johnson, B, King C, Shehab S. Using Podcasts to Motivate Bioengineering Capstone Students Toward Learning and Career Exploration. Biomed Eng Education, 2025.
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Golecki H, Chang W, Wright A, Shehab S, Johnson B, Hajj R, et al. Developing a Podcasting Platform to Support Engineering Education. 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings. Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2025.
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Bacon A, Golecki H. A Design-Based Research Course for Biomedical Engineering Students. In: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings. Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2025.
We are grateful for support from the following groups:
If you are interested in learning more about our research, reach out to Dr. Holly Golecki at golecki@illinois.edu.
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