Two Bristol engineers have been nominated for inclusion in a prestigious ‘hall of fame’ which brings together and celebrates the most inspiring and innovative figures in British engineering.
Joel Gibbard, the founder of Open Bionics based at the Technology Business Incubator at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, and Mark Chapman, chief engineer of The Bloodhound Project make up two of the five nominees to appear in SEMTA’s Engineering Hall of Fame 2015. 
Joel’s invention of 3D printed robotic hands provides an affordable, accessible alternative to expensive prosthetics with life-changing benefits for those who would not normally be able to afford them.
His nomination follows Open Bionic’s first successful trial where an amputee was 3D scanned and fitted with a custom prosthetic that took less than a week to create. This is the first time in history that an amputee has been fitted with an advanced, custom-fitted 3D printed robotic hand.
Mark, pictured above, graduated from the University of Bath in 1992 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, and since then has worked on a wide range of projects ranging from designing the rotor control actuators for the AB139 helicopter, to a sewage works in Totnes. 
He has worked in Seattle for US aerospace giant Boeing in its Propulsion Systems Division, and at Rolls Royce in Bristol. Most recently he spent nearly four years as part of the design team on the STOVL system for the F-35 Lightning II, the Joint Strike Fighter.
Joel, pictured right, said: “It is fantastic to be up for this award. We are getting ever closer to giving amputees a greater freedom of choice when it comes to prosthetic devices. Open Bionics is using innovate technology to address challenges that affects many people, it’s an incredibly rewarding thing to be a part of.”
Nominations have been narrowed down to a shortlist of just five contemporary British engineers whose work has demonstrated outstanding innovation and had a positive impact on society.
The other nominees are Professor Dame Ann Dowling DBE FREng FRS, a world authority on low noise aircraft and low emission power stations and President of the Royal Academy of Engineering; Professor Máire O’Neill, one of Europe’s leading digital security experts and Dr Dan Plant, a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow at Imperial College London, works in the field of advanced active materials.
UWE vice-chancellor Professor Steve West said: “We are very proud that we have been able to provide Open Bionics with technical and business support during the formative stage of their business. It has been a phenomenal year for this company that has been recognised globally for its genuinely ground-breaking work to provide open source, low cost, light weight prosthetics by combining robotics technology with 3D printing.”
Open Bionics was named Britain’s Best Start-up Idea 2014 by Intuit.
