Congratulations to Product Design Engineering graduate, Kate Walker who won New Business of the Year at the LeicestershireLive Women in Business Awards 2021.

The LeicestershireLive Business Awards 2021 aim to celebrate success, recognise achievement and highlight the innovative people and companies throughout Leicestershire who are putting their region on the map by boosting the economy while making a positive contribution to the local community.

Kate was awarded New Business of the Year for her Loughborough based business, Exphand Prosthetics. The company designs low-cost 3D printed prosthetics for children in the developing world. ExpHand is a 3D printed prosthetic arm that can be adjusted to fit any child, aged three to 10 years old. It costs less than £50 to produce.

Kate explains:

“Using 3D printing means that ExpHands can be manufactured relatively quickly and cost-effectively, with little waste, close to where they are needed. The technique also opens up opportunities for customisation in style and colour, making the devices more appealing to young people.”

Kate started the business during her final year at Loughborough and later joined The Studio. She has gone on to win multiple awards since including the Experian Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2019, the Generation Next Future Leader Award, and LeicestershireLive’s Innovation Award.