Engineering:Samantha Payne
Samantha Joanne Payne MBE is an English entrepreneur. The co-founder of Open Bionics, a bionics company developing affordable prosthetics for children,[1] Payne has won a number of international awards for her work. These include the MIT Technology Review 'Innovators under 35' in 2018,[2] James Dyson gong for innovative engineering[1] and Wired Innovation Fellow in 2016.[3] In the Queen's Birthday Honours list 2020, Payne was awarded an MBE, for her work making bionic technology more accessible.[4]
Early life and education
Born and raised in Knowle West, outside of Bristol, England.[5] Payne is a graduate of Whitworth University and has a Bachelor of Arts/Science.[6]
Career
She worked as a journalist, specialising in technology before becoming a co-founder of Open Bionics.[7] In 2013, whilst working as a journalist, Payne interviewed Joel Gibbard, who was a robotics graduate at the time.[1] Gibbard and Payne later became business partners and co-founders of Open Bionics.[1]
Payne and Gibbard founded Open Bionics in 2014.[1] The start-up was initially based at the Technology Business Incubator at Bristol Robotics Laboratory.[8] The aim of the company was to develop "affordable, assistive devices that enhance the human body."[4]
Open Bionics has partnered with Disney to make prosthetics based on Disney characters for children.[4]
Her work at Open Bionics has been featured in The Guardian [1] and Daily Mirror.[9]
Innovation
Open Bionics uses 3D scanning to take the initial prosthetic fitting and 3D printing to improve the prosthetic design.[1] These innovations significantly reduce the build-time and the material costs for a personalised hand, making prosthetics more affordable for amputees.[1] Payne estimates that, if bought from private providers, bionic hands with multi-grip functionality cost up to £60,000, compared to £5,000 from Open Bionics.[1]
Awards and recognition
In 2015, Payne was shortlisted for Women in Business 'Young Entrepreneur of The Year' award.[8] In 2018, Payne featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Sciences and Healthcare category.[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "The entrepreneur behind a revolutionary 3D-printed robotic hand". Guardian. 3 May 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/may/03/the-award-winning-robotics-company-amputees-gender-equality-open-source-engineering. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- ↑ "Artificial intelligence & robotics - Samantha Payne". MIT. https://www.innovatorsunder35.com/the-list/samantha-payne/.
- ↑ "WIRED2016: Innovation Fellows". Wired. 4 November 2016. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/wired2016-fellows. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Baker, Hannah (2020-10-13). "Bristol entrepreneurs recognised in Queen's Birthday Honours 2020" (in en). https://www.business-live.co.uk/technology/queens-birthday-honours-2020-bristol-19094170.
- ↑ "Toyota presents: Driven - The story of Samantha Payne" (in en). https://www.toyota-europe.com/news/2019/driven-samantha-payne.
- ↑ "Samantha Payne" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/profile/samantha-payne/.
- ↑ "Samantha Payne | Innovators Under 35". https://www.innovatorsunder35.com/the-list/samantha-payne/.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Samantha Payne of Open Bionics shortlisted for 'Women in Business Awards' - UWE Bristol: News Releases". https://info.uwe.ac.uk/news/uwenews/news.aspx?id=3031.
- ↑ "Bionic gran who lost all four limbs 'gets her life back' thanks to 3D printed robotic arm". The Mirror. 20 October 2018. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bionic-gran-who-lost-four-13451126. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ↑ "30 Under 30 Europe 2018: Science & Healthcare" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30-europe/2018/science-healthcare/.
 |  |
