5/20/2025
Leaders from Illinois and OSF reflect on a decade of impact and chart the future of health technology
Health Care Engineering Systems Center celebrates 10 years of innovation
“For the past decade, the Health Care Engineering Systems Center has been at the forefront of innovation, bridging engineering and medicine to transform patient care, medical training, and health technology. ”
Rashid Bashir, Dean of The Grainger College of Engineering at Illinois
The Health Care Engineering Systems Center (HCESC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. On Monday, health care leaders from UIUC and partner OSF Medical Group gathered to reflect on a decade of innovation and envision the center’s next chapter.
A Decade of Bridging Engineering and Medicine
Since its founding in 2014, HCESC has driven global research to improve the health and well-being of communities worldwide.
“For the past decade, the Health Care Engineering Systems Center has been at the forefront of innovation, bridging engineering and medicine to transform patient care, medical training, and health technology,” said Rashid Bashir, Dean of The Grainger College of Engineering at Illinois.
Bashir also acknowledged the pivotal role of the Jump ARCHES Endowment, which has provided essential support for the center’s development and research initiatives.
Jump ARCHES: Driving Innovation Through Funding
One of the center’s core responsibilities is managing the Jump Applied Research for Community Health through Engineering and Simulation (ARCHES) program. Since 2014, the program has been backed by $112.5 million in endowment funding.
That investment has fueled over $12 million in internal grants, supporting more than 170 research proposals.
“These 10 years have borne great fruit,” said Dr. John Vozenilek, VP & Chief Medical Officer, Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center at OSF.
Dr. Vozenilek noted the program’s broad impact, citing over 150 funded investigators, 200+ supported students, and 14+ doctoral degrees earned through ARCHES initiatives.
Looking Ahead: A Focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
HCESC Director Jim Rehg offered a preview of future research, emphasizing the center’s growing focus on artificial intelligence (AI).
AI for Children’s Health
One key project aims to enhance autism diagnosis and intervention through AI. Rehg shared findings from the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network:
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1 in 31 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder
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An estimated 62 million people worldwide are affected
Early detection would allow children’s needs to be better understood, but the median diagnostic age in the U.S. is 4 years, leaving a 2–3 year window of missed intervention. HCESC is working to develop universal screening tools using AI to analyze children's behaviors and social cues.
Another project analyzes video recordings of children interacting with examiners, using computer vision to track eye movements that may reflect social-communicative intent.
Two Key Research Questions:
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How can vision foundation models be repurposed for social communication assessment?
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How can researchers build large, diverse datasets for training and validation?
To answer these questions, HCESC is forming a Developmental Data Consortium in partnership with Stanford University, Korea University and the University of Reading.
AI for Community Health
Another research cluster focuses on using AI to support behavioral health interventions. Dr. Mashfiqui Rabbi leads the Mobile Sensing and Intervention project, which uses wearable technology to monitor stressors that contribute to harmful habits like smoking and alcohol use.
By identifying patterns that precede these behaviors, researchers aim to deploy Just-in-Time Interventions to help individuals break unhealthy cycles.
Building the Future of Health Care Engineering
These projects represent just a few of the center’s ongoing efforts. As HCESC enters its second decade, its mission remains clear: to engineer cutting-edge solutions that improve lives and shape the future of health care.