After spending several weeks working on a design, a team of QL+ students began working on a prosthetic limb last winter that can improve the surfing experience for amputee surfers.
During the fall, the surfing prosthetic team – Oyundari Altansukh, Kurtis Barth, Samamtha Campbell, and Caroline Swanson – met with Kyle Kelly, a vet who lost his leg during the war in Iraq. While he surfs, the Texas native has difficulty maneuvering with his carbon fiber prosthetic.
As this video shows, the students set out to make a more flexible prosthetic. That involved several layers of carbon fiber and a flexible joint made of rubber.
To get a feel for the movements required for surfing, Van Curaza, who founded the Operation Surfcamp for veterans – and who provided the surfing prosthetic challenge – took the team surfing in Morro Bay.
This is the third of four installments of Up to the Challenge. View the Video HERE.
