Prosthetics Innovation Challenge: “Innovate for Mobility. Design for Dignity. Build for Everyone.”
Event Overview: The Prosthetics Innovation Challenge is a CSR-driven innovation competition focused on developing affordable, accessible, and practical prosthetic solutions for people with limb loss or limb disabilities. Participants will be presented with real-world problem statements related to prosthetic limbs and assistive technologies. They will work individually or in teams to understand the challenges faced by users and propose innovative, feasible, and scalable solutions that can improve everyday mobility, independence, comfort, and quality of life. The competition aims to bridge the gap between technology and social impact, encouraging students, innovators, engineers, designers, healthcare professionals, and entrepreneurs to create solutions that are not only technologically advanced but also affordable and accessible to the general public.
Objectives: Encourage innovation in prosthetics and assistive technology. Develop low-cost and accessible prosthetic solutions. Address real-world challenges faced by prosthetic users. Promote interdisciplinary collaboration between technology, healthcare, engineering, and design. Convert innovative ideas into practical and scalable solutions. Create meaningful social impact through CSR-led innovation.
Problem Statements: Participants will receive a set of problem statements addressing challenges such as:
Affordability: How can prosthetic limbs be made significantly more affordable?
Comfort & Fit: How can prosthetics provide better comfort and personalized fitting?
Mobility: How can prosthetic limbs improve walking, running, climbing stairs, or navigating uneven terrain?
Upper-Limb Functionality: How can prosthetic hands provide more natural and useful movement?
Accessibility: How can prosthetic technology be made accessible to people in rural and underserved communities?
Maintenance: How can prosthetics be designed for easier repair, maintenance, and replacement?
Customization: How can prosthetics be personalized according to an individual's lifestyle and occupation?
Smart Prosthetics: How can sensors, AI, IoT, or other emerging technologies improve prosthetic functionality without making the solution prohibitively expensive?
Competition Format: 1.
Ideation: Teams select or are assigned a problem statement and study the needs of the intended users. 2.
Solution Development: Participants develop their proposed solution, considering: Technical feasibility. Cost. User comfort. Accessibility. Safety. Ease of manufacturing. Maintenance. Scalability. 3. Prototype / Proof
Venue
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal
Mangaluru, India
Of Concept: Teams are encouraged to develop a working prototype, functional model, CAD design, simulation, or other proof of concept demonstrating their solution. 4.
Final Presentation: Shortlisted teams present their solutions to a panel of experts from engineering, healthcare, prosthetics, design, industry, and social-impact domains. 5.
Evaluation & Awards: Solutions will be evaluated based on innovation, feasibility, affordability, user impact, scalability, and technical execution.
Innovation & Originality: 20%. Social Impact &
User Benefit: 20%.
Technical Feasibility: 20%.
Affordability & Accessibility: 15%.
Scalability & Manufacturing Potential: 15%. Prototype / Proof
Of Concept: 10%. Who Can Participate? The competition can be open to: Engineering & technology students. Medical and healthcare students. Product and industrial designers. Researchers. Startups and innovators. Makers and technology enthusiasts. Interdisciplinary teams. Participants from different backgrounds are encouraged to form teams to combine technical, medical, design, and business perspectives.
Expected Outcomes: The initiative aims to identify and support promising solutions that can eventually move beyond the competition into prototyping, clinical/user validation, manufacturing, and real-world deployment. Through this CSR initiative, the event seeks to create a sustainable ecosystem where innovation is directed toward solving genuine accessibility challenges and making advanced prosthetic technology more affordable and available to the people who need it most.