The New York Times has published an article about one of the heroes of Mediamax’s “50 Global Armenians” project, Naira Hovakimyan, who is the Director of Intelligent  Robotics Lab at Illinois University. The article particularly focused on the Armenian scientist’s innovative idea which is aimed at improving elderly people’s lives.

“The ranks of older and frail adults are growing rapidly in the developed world, raising alarms about how society is going to help them take care of themselves in their own homes. Naira Hovakimyan has an idea: drones”, writes The New York Times.

According to the article, the University of Illinois robotics specialists have recently received a $‌1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to explore the idea of designing small autonomous drones to perform simple household chores, like retrieving a bottle of medicine from another room.

Dr. Hovakimyan acknowledged that the idea might seem off-putting to many, but she believes that drones will not only be safe, but will become an everyday fixture in elder care within a decade or two.

“I’m convinced that within 20 years drones will be today’s cellphones,” noted Naira Hovakimyan.

The magazine writes that Dr. Hovakimyan has begun experimenting with small and large drones in her labs.

Naira Hovakimyan was appointed the Director of Intelligent Robotics Lab at Illinois University in April 2015.

You can read about the Armenian scientist’s life and professional activities here.