The Illini Prosthetics Team believes that every amputee around the world should be given a proper prosthetic arm replacement which is low-cost and functional. They are united in their cause to make this dream a reality. 25 million people around the world are missing one or more of their limbs due to landmines, violence, farming accidents, birth defects, disease, and other causes. 80% of these people live in developing nations. It’s clear to see the great need for a low-cost and functional prosthetic arm for these people.
The group is a team of engineers and business people who are working on both the technical and business sides of the problem of amputee empowerment. This work is done through weekly design sessions, business plan writing, and field work both in the United States and soon, at clinics around the world.
Jonathan Naber, the founder of the Illini Prosthetics Team, has developed a prosthetic arm made of low-cost materials that can be made and sold in developing nations at affordable prices. For his work, Naber is the first college junior to ever win the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize. The award, handed out by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, recognizes researchers who make outstanding innovations for the betterment of society.
Naber, collaborating with the Range of Motion Project, is field testing three prototypes this summer in Guatemala with his five-member Illini Prosthetics Team. They aim to eventually begin mass production of the arm and provide the prostheses to clinics, hospitals, and NGOs around the world, especially in developing nations.
To learn more about the Illini Prosthetics Team, visit their website. To read more about Naber’s work on the prosthetic arm, refer to this article.
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