1) Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES)
Dr. Pat Malik is the Director of the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) and former director of Beckwith Residential Support Services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois in the field of leisure behavior and therapeutic recreation. Her entire professional life has focused on supporting people with disabilities reach their highest potential via a variety of venues, e.g., activities director in a nursing home, professor of therapeutic recreation at Illinois State University, vice-president of program development for a community rehabilitation company that supported those with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities, and within her most current position. Her current position allows her to work with college students through the many transitions they experience in young adulthood, with the ultimate goal that they may independently manage the many facets of their disability leading to increased personal empowerment. Dr. Malik’s professional involvement includes, publications, presentations and serving on national exam certification committees.
2) Makerspace Urbana
Dr. Emily Knox is an assistant professor in the School of Information Sciences (the iSchool, formerly GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a key member of Makerspace Urbana. You can find out more about her at emilyknox.net.
Mike Bohlmann has been an active member of Makerspace Urbana since late 2015. His primary maker interests are around 3D printing and electronics, but he also does drone-based video production and photography. In his day job, he is the Assistant Dean of Technology in the College of Media and Chief Digital Officer at WILL.
elizaBeth Simpson studies the dynamics of collaboration, participation, social responsibility, and personal agency as leveraged by cultural work. Her current research interests as a PhD student in the Institute of Communications Research at UIUC include participatory knowledge making for citizenship with particular emphasis on embodied cognition, political theater, and restorative justice. In addition to her work as a researcher, elizaBeth has been a facilitator, circle keeper, and consultant for grassroots social justice organizations for over 20 years, and is also a performance and multimedia artist who specializes in collaborative projects with people who would not call themselves “creative.”