Loughborough Enterprise Network – where Kate engages as a member of its Incubator, LUinc. - helped to celebrate her success with an event on Wednesday 5 June 2024 which included the unveiling of a purple plaque.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng FRS and Pro-Vice Chancellor, Education and Student Experience, Professor Rachel Thomson attended the display of the purple plaque along with the Loughborough Enterprise Network community and Kate’s friends and family.
A purple plaque was presented at the University’s Start-up Lab, symbolising Kate’s remarkable journey and groundbreaking achievements.
Kate founded ExpHand Prosthetics in 2017 during her final year at Loughborough where she studied Product Design Engineering. She was searching for a dissertation idea with purpose, and it wasn’t until she met Zoey, a little girl with congenital limb-loss, that Kate realised her potential to change lives.
Through innovative 3D-printing and with Zoey in mind, Kate designed a prosthetic that can grow with children, unlike any other prosthetic currently available. ExpHand Prosthetics provides affordable, life-changing upper limb prosthetics that give children their independence back.
Since winning her first award, Kate has gone on to receive international praise for her developments in the field of prosthetics. The ExpHand is now being used by children across the UK and internationally with an upcoming product trial in Kenya.
Furthermore, a plaque is expected to be installed in the University’s Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering. Kate has also recently had a plaque installed at her secondary school.
She joins a distinguished network of over 200 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award winners who are developing inspiring solutions to pressing societal, environmental, and economic challenges.
Many congratulations, Kate.