Limbcare Backs Open Bionics

A leading organisation for amputees has thrown their weight behind the work at Open Bionics.

Limbcare is a charity set-up by quadruple amputee Ray Edwards MBE, who lost his limbs after contracting septicemia.

The organisation offers hope, guidance, advice and peer support to those with limb differences and those around them.

Joel recently met with Ray and his team to discuss the future of prosthetics and seek his judgement on the latest robotic hand prototypes.

Ray said: “It is just fantastic. This is the future and they're doing it to help people. We're right behind them and we're incredibly happy to support their work. This technology is going to change lives. It's going to help so many people. 3D printing hands is a brilliant idea.”

Ray is an unstoppable force of nature and has offered to put the latest robotic prosthetics through rigorous testing. He said he particularly enjoyed how Open Bionics is making their hands light-weight and low cost.

Ray is an advocate for amputee awareness and spends much of his time around the country educating people about what it means to be an amputee.

Joel said he couldn't think of  better a better person to test his prototypes.

Open Bionics Nominated for Tech Awards

Open Bionics, The Open Hand Project, and our founder Joel Gibbard, have been nominated for three technology awards.

TechSparkUK recently broke the news that over 220 people, organisations, and businesses, across the South West have been nominated for the Sparkies awards.

Among those nominated are, Vouchercloud, Engine Shed,  fellow Bristol Robotics Laboratory start-up founder Silas Adekunle, and Bristol Braille Technology who are working to radically reduce the cost of expensive Braille displays.

Joel said: “Bristol has been recognised as a hub of engineering and technology excellence and it's fantastic to be a part of this growth.

The Sparkies awards give just a little insight into what is going on in the South West tech scene. I'm thrilled that my project, business, and work are included.

It's really great to see projects, that are using technology to better people's lives and make a real impact, recognised and nominated.”

These nominations came after Joel was named 'Young Design Engineer of The Year' at the British Engineering Excellence Awards.

Read what the TechSparkUK founder, David Maher Roberts, had to say about the awards in the Bristol Post (we even got a shout-out!): Sparkies are proof Bristol and Bath is already a world-class cluster

Wonder if it was the Adams Hand that caught their eye... 

Young Design Engineer of the Year Award

Open Bionics founder, Joel Gibbard, won a prestigious award last week at the British Engineering Excellence Awards.

The awards celebrate UK companies and individuals that have shown the skills, invention, and dedication to compete and succeed on an international stage within the engineering space.

Photo Credit: BEEAs

Joel was nominated for the Young Design Engineer of the Year award by a friend from his old employers, National Instruments (NI). NI played a huge supporting role in Joel's successful crowd-funding campaign for The Open Hand Project.

There were four young engineers short-listed for the award and the judges said it was the most 'tightly-fought' category.

Joel won the award for his low-cost 3D printed bionic hand innovation after lengthy deliberation from judges.

The judges said they were impressed by the open source nature of his work and that his design would hugely benefit many people.

Joel said: “I was lucky to have been nominated and feel even luckier to have won. The whole event inspired me to think of the future of engineering.

Advances in technology have the power to change lives for the better. It can be used for good on a huge scale and creative innovators are very much needed to push for this. Just think of the possibilities for future generations.”

Joel said he's keeping his trophy at home where he can keep an eye on it.

What the judges said of Joel: “A highly motivated, dedicated young engineer with multidisciplinary skills and an impressive record of achievement already.”