Scholarship Essay Entry – Joseph A.

Despair - that is the feeling many individuals experience after having an arm or leg amputated. For many this feeling does not subside even after receiving a prosthetic limb. The reason being is that a prosthetic limb provided to an amputee is little more than a rigid device with a limited number of movements. Thus, a prosthetic arm can only perform a finite number of simple movements such as opening cupboard doors, carrying light objects, or pushing buttons. But more complex movements, such as playing the piano or wrist shots in hockey, are strictly out of the question. Therefore, my ambition is to design prosthetic limbs that will not only allow an amputee to perform everyday tasks, but also to enjoy an active lifestyle.

Designing advanced prosthetic devices to fully mimic an amputated limb is no small feat. However, developing such devices is achievable through collaboration of many fields such as medicine, engineering, robotics, and most importantly amputees. As for the medical aspect of designing prosthetic limbs, I will be attending the University of Alberta this autumn as a first year medical student. I fully intend to use the knowledge I acquire in medical school to create advanced prosthetic devices. However instead of designing a prosthetic device, then giving it to an amputee and saying, "here you go now make use of it," I intend to work closely with these individuals to identify what they want, as well as what they need from the prosthetic device.

As I mentioned earlier, the main motivation for my desire to develop new prosthetic devices is the feeling of despair and hopelessness many amputees feel when trying to readjust to their disability. My main objective is to allow these individuals to return to the active lifestyle they enjoyed before their amputation. And through allowing these individuals to return to their normal lives I also hope to improve their self-confidence and feeling of self-worth. In addition to the small number of amputees in my community that would benefit from new prosthetic devices, the advanced materials and designs used from the prosthetic devices could also be translated to other industries around the world.