Between being the only North American team to advance to the global round of the James Dyson Product Competition and taking their second trip to Guatemala, the Illini Prosthetics Team has been awfully busy as of late. IPT President Jon Naber took some time yesterday to answer some questions about IPT’s most recent activities.
AEL: What made the IPT want to enter to win a James Dyson Award?
Jon Naber: One of our partners, Ehsan [Noursalehi], is getting his Master’s in Industrial Design at the UI. He is immersed in the design culture, so he heard about the Dyson Award through that avenue. We thought that our product exemplifies the ideals that the Dyson Award Committee looks for – user-centric design and rigorous product development. We were the only team from North America to advance to the global level, so even though we didn’t win, we are still pretty excited about it.
AEL: You recently returned from Zacapa, Guatemala, where IPT participated in the Range Of Motion Project’s annual clinic for the second year in a row. Can you talk about your experience there?
JN: The trip was really successful. We took a lot of open socket technology prototypes with us, and tested them at the clinics and at patients’ homes. We learned a lot about what still needed to be improved on our device and made field innovations as we went along. Overall, the amputees showed a solid, positive response regarding the comfort, functionality and look of the product. We are looking forward to leveraging this experience into longer term testing, production and distribution.
AEL: The last time we talked, you mentioned that the ROMP clinic was being held at the same time as an orthopedic health clinic. Did you get to interact much with the prosthetists, orthotists and physicians who were providing care to Guatemalans at this clinic?
JN: Absolutely. We were working alongside of some of the world’s leading experts in those fields as we conducted our fittings and evaluations with patients. That was great because we were able to get the experts’ immediate feedback, as well as the patients’, about what could be improved. That environment gave us excellent opportunities to observe experts in our field at work, to build rapport in the professional community and to further develop our product.
AEL: How was this trip different than your first trip to Guatemala?
JN: It was different in a number of ways. The first time we went, we were in the broad, high-altitude development of our product so we took three different concepts with us. We have now converged onto a single product design. Also, we were accompanied by a number of professionals this time.
AEL: You presented at the Midwest Chapter of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists last week. How did you get involved in that event?
JN: One of the founders of the Range Of Motion Project is the elected president of that specific chapter. He organizes this academic/professional conference for people in the physical rehabilitation field once a year. Half of the people that went on the Guatemala trip with us in October were there, so it was great to be reunited with them, and to have the opportunity to present our work in an academic and professional setting.
IPT is working to expand our horizons beyond Champaign, and this conference was a great opportunity to do that. We are looking to embed ourselves in the physical rehabilitation communities in Chicago and in Guatemala.
AEL: What is IPT working on now that the team is back from Guatemala?
JN: We are in the process of analyzing feedback we got from our trip to Guatemala. We are going to aggressively leap into reworking the prototype to address the issues we have discovered. We plan to push that forward as quickly as possible. We need to start long-term validating our product in the field.
We are also pending approval for our 501(c)3 status, so we are hoping for approval in the near future.
AEL: The last time we talked you said that IPT was working to raise funds for the longevity of the company. How is that going so far?
JN: We won a Public Engagement grant a few nights ago, so that was a nice addition to our grant lineup to fund ongoing IPT operations. We are confident that we are getting a lot closer to our fundraising goal, and we are excited to see these connections we are making matriculate into funding opportunities.
Be sure to follow the success of the IPT on Twitter @supportIPT and check out their website to learn more!
