Get a chance to meet people developing the future

I’ve written about the fantastic ideas and developments coming from the open source group, eNABLE. It’s an international group of makers developing prosthetics using 3D printers and other ingenious methods to make prosthetics more affordable and accessible. It’s redefining prosthetics and the expectations of what is possible for people in the limb difference world.

So recently, the U.S. Veteran’s Administration launched an Innovation Challenge – a three-city tour encouraging makers across the country to develop prosthetics and assistive devices that could benefit veterans. And whatever comes from the event, those developments will also be made available to the general public.

I’m kind of obsessed with what the VA is doing with this event. The whole idea is to amplify and accelerate the innovation process to help disabled veterans. You can see a list of the finalists ideas that will be part of the challenge this week in Richmond, Virginia. I am in Washington, DC this week for work, not far from Richmond. It absolutely kills me that work meetings will prevent me from attending this event. But if you are in the area, you are welcome to attend any time this Tuesday and Wednesday. The ultimate will be at 5pm on Wednesday, July 29th when the winners are announced. Seriously, if you’re in the area, please go for me. Tell me all about it. I’m so so sad to miss this awesome event. You can sign up online for free.

The goals of the event are incredible and I really hope I can continue to follow and eventually attend events like these. Any one of us can be the mind that develops the next awesome improvement for prosthetics and assistive devices. I can’t wait to see what happens after the VA Innovation Challenge.