Realizing a life-long vision
At the age of seven, Aadeel Akhtar met a little girl during a trip to his home country of Pakistan. They were similar in age and background, but Akhtar noticed something that made them worlds apart. The little girl was missing her right leg. Rather than the support of a prosthetic limb to make her whole again, she was forced to rely on a tree branch as a crutch.
In that moment, Akhtar realized a passion beyond his years. Now, Akhtar’s life-long vision to provide low-cost prosthetic limbs to those like the little girl he met in Pakistan is coming to fruition, and his efforts have been noticed.
The Technology Entrepreneur Center recently announced Akhtar as the winner of this year’s Illinois Innovation Prize, along with the co-runners up, Matt Alonso and Mayank Kale. The $20,000 prize is annually awarded to a student who stands out as a passionate innovator and entrepreneur who is working with world-changing technology and is seen as a role model for others.
Akhtar is a neuroscience PhD candidate at Illinois, currently enrolled in the College of Medicine. He graduated from Loyola University Chicago, Magna cum laude, with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in computer science in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
Akhtar’s passions have come to fruition as the CEO and co-founder of PSYONIC, a startup developing highly advanced, low-cost prosthetic hands—the first with sensory feedback—to those who need them around the world. PSYONIC took home the first-place prize in the 2015 Cozad New Venture Competition.
Leading prosthetics can cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, but Akhtar’s prosthetic hand prototype goes for about $270. To make prosthetics cost-effective, especially in developing nations, Akhtar and his small team at PSYONIC utilize barometric pressure sensors, typically found in GPS devices, as sensitive touch sensors that provide sensory feedback—these parts go for about $5.
Since May of 2014, Akhtar has collaborated with fellow Illinois alum, David Krupa. Krupa (BS, ’02, biology) is the founder of the Range of Motion Project, a nonprofit organization based out of Ecuador and Guatemala that aims for the efficient distribution of prosthetics across the globe. Through the collaboration, the U.S. Embassy funded Akhtar’s trip to Ecuador to test his prosthetic prototype on a patient who has been missing his hand for 30 years. Akhtar will continue to work with the same patient as he develops his prototype to allow for the stimulation of sensory nerves.
“This is quite the honor,” Akhtar said. “I couldn’t have imagined in a million years that I would be at this point.”
Co-runner up, Kale, is a junior in computer science and founder of Invoq Health, a startup created in January of 2015 that develops highly efficient, scalable applications and mobile technology for healthcare needs in India and Africa.
The other co-runner up, Alonso, is an agricultural engineering PhD who has his BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Illinois. He is currently working on solving a global cooking problem by developing a portable solar thermal energy storage system without fuel, fire or emissions.
Each student nominated for the Illinois Innovation Prize was selected by mentors, professors or a faculty member on the basis of the nominee’s passion for innovation and work in technology. Illinois is a world leader in research, innovation and leadership, and distinguishes itself by creating knowledge and preparing students for lives of impact while addressing critical societal needs through invention and entrepreneurship.
ABOUT THE $20,000 ILLINOIS INNOVATION PRIZE
The Illinois Innovation Prize, administered by the Technology Entrepreneur Center in the College of Engineering, is awarded on an annual basis to the most innovative student on campus. This year, TEC will reward and recognize the most innovative student on campus with $20,000. This student is a passionate innovator, working with world changing technology, entrepreneurially minded, and a role model for others.
