Image of the adjustable socket courtesy of Humure.
Claudine Humure, a class of 2017 biology major/business and management minor at Wheaton College, won a $10,000 genius award from OZY Media. The funding will support her work developing low-cost, 3D-printed, adjustable prosthetic sockets for people with amputations in developing countries who cannot afford prosthetic limbs. Humure is one of ten students, chosen from hundreds of applicants, who were honored at the OZY Genius Awards Ceremony on March 31 in New York.
“The award will allow me to continue working on my research this summer by covering the costs of materials and other expenses,” Humure said. “I feel honored.”
Humure, who is originally from Rwanda, has a right transfemoral amputation due to cancer. She is developing the socket as her senior project; the work incorporates skills she has gained through coursework and internships during her time at Wheaton, combining knowledge of biology, physics, and design. Her socket design is adjustable to account for growth and other daily changes in the user’s residual limb. It is also lightweight.
Editor’s note: This story was adapted from materials provide by Wheaton College.
