Injured Eagle Lands New Beak
Children’s literature is full of memorable wildlife adventure stories, but Deborah Lee Rose and Jane Veltkamp’s Beauty and the Beak may be the first to feature engineers and their role in outfitting an injured eagle with a 3-D printed prosthetic beak. A free education guide with standards-based STEM, STEAM, and literacy lessons accompanies the book, winner of the 2018 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books.
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Imagine not being able to pick up a glass of water, open a door, or play catch because you had no hands. Now imagine you’re a biomedical engineer and can help amputees regain dexterity – with the help of a home 3D printer.
Students in grades 6 to 8 gain an understanding of physical limitations and the biomedical engineering design process by performing a variety of tasks without using their thumbs, eyes, or legs, then working in teams to create or improve and adaptive device.
Student in grades 4 – 8 are introduced to biomedical engineering and the technology of prosthetics. As they create a model prosthetic lower leg, testing its strength and considering pros and cons, they learn about issues and materials that biomedical engineers consider in designing artificial limbs.
A team of research engineers at golf equipment company PING has created a set of custom-fitted golf clubs for a man who has been a quadruple amputee since 2005. The researchers developed “a workable prototype” for Mesa, Arizona’s Jeff Lewis and worked with a prosthetist to develop a set of unique clubs. 
Fit and athletic amputees – like sprinter/long-jumper Aimee Mullins – have proved over and over that the loss of a limb is no reason to give up sports. Amputee swimmers, however, have been held back — until now. Enter Neptune, a colorful but functional superflipper designed for competitive amputee swimmers.
