Helping Hand: BME Undergraduate Elliot Krause Makes Prosthetic Hand

First year BME undergraduate student Elliot Krause has made a prosthetic hand for an 11-year-old Raleigh girl as part of the Helping Hand project. Elliot used the 3D printer that is available to UNC undergraduate Biomedical Engineering students to create this child’s first prosthetic hand. The Helping Hand project was started by UNC BME senior Jeff Powell during the summer of 2014. A local dad contacted BME faculty member Rich Goldberg about helping his son who needed a prosthetic hand. The story was featured on multiple news outlets, including the CBS This Morning news program. As a result of the publicity, Jeff was contacted by families across the country who have children who could benefit from a 3D printed prosthetic hand. In conjunction with Tom Kelly, who is on the faculty in the UNC School of Law and runs the Community Development Law Clinic, Jeff created his non-profit organization that will work with UNC BME. Helping Hands will continue these efforts to provide 3D printed prosthetic hands to children who need them. Jeff is graduating in the Spring of 2015, but he has trained a group of younger BME students in the techniques so that they can continue this amazing work. Elliot Krause is one of these students, and he is excited to take on this task. Elliot’s important contributions to Helping Hands will continue to enrich children’s lives.