About Us...

HANDS ACROSS BORDERS:
Our Global Community Service Project

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FIRST® is more than just robots...

When American inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® in 1992, he set out to build a culture where scientists and engineers are just as respected and celebrated as professional athletes are. He also wanted to inspire generations of young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators.

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At the end of the 2022 competition season, our mentors told us about other FIRST®  teams that were making a difference in their local communities. We were told about one team that made a motorized wheelchair for a small child whose family couldn’t afford one. And another team, that wanted to help refugees living in makeshift tent communities on the U.S. southern border, by engineering small, portable solar panels so that those families would have electricity for lights and to charge their cell phones. We even learned about a group of FIRST® teams from nearby Columbus, Ohio who banded together at the height of the pandemic to produce PPE (personal protective equipment) for local first responders and area healthcare professionals. It was amazing to hear about what kids like us could do when given a chance.

Then our mentors asked us “What were we going to do?” They challenged us to think BIG, to put the service of others before ourselves, and to use the skills that we learned building robots for competition to leave a lasting impact on the world.

After learning about children, both at home and abroad, who were born missing fingers and hands, or who had lost them due to illness, accidents, or regional conflicts, the students from our four teams decided to work collaboratively to manufacture and assemble 3D-printed prosthetic hands for children. 

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 This 3D-printed prosthetic hand was custom-made to fit a small child - Image credit, e-NABLE 

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Working closely with IMAHelps.org, a US-based, volunteer organization that runs humanitarian medical missions to impoverished communities in Asia, the Caribbean, and in Central and South America, and with the financial backing of the Great Lakes Science Center and our many sponsors, we have joined others from the maker community to design and create low-cost, upper limb prosthetic devices that we give away, free of charge, to deserving families. We call this humanitarian project "Hands Across Borders." 

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There are two (2) types of upper limb prosthetic devices that our teams have learned to create. They are…

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• The e-NABLE Phoenix Hand – for children with amputations below the wrist; and

• The e-NABLE Unlimbited Arm – for children with amputations between the wrist and elbow.  We are currently experimenting with a modified version of this arm for children with an amputation above the elbow.

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Once we receive the required measurements, photos, and videos from the recipient, it takes approximately 2-3 weeks to manufacture, assemble, test, and ship the 3D-printed prosthetic device to those in need. 

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If you, or a child you know, needs a 3D-printed upper limb prosthetic device, please contact Mr. Bradshaw, our Senior Mentor for this project, at bradshawj@glsc.org

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Attention Affiliates: 

If you are a Hands Across Borders (HAB) affiliate site, click HERE to access the HAB resource page.  We created this online resource page specifically for high school robotics teams wishing to partner with us on this global community service project.  The HAB Resource page contains downloadable copies of our training materials, user guides, patient forms, and marketing materials, along with links to instructional videos, and more. You will also find all the files needed to begin making 3D-printed prosthetic hands and arms for children in your community and around the world!

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Not an Affiliate Site yet?

No problem! Contact Mr. Bradshaw at bradshawj@glsc.org to learn how your robotics team or youth group can become part of the growing network of kids helping kids worldwide!