Money makers: Making bionic hands cheaper

An interview with robotics engineer Joel Gibbard inspired journalist Samantha Payne to help make bionic hands better for less.

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Samantha Payne quit journalism to make bionic hands
(Image credit: Copyright (c) 2015 Rex Features. No use without permission.)

Samantha Payne, now 26, was a journalist in 2013 when sheinterviewed robotics engineer Joel Gibbard. His dream wasto design robotic hands that amputees around the worldcould 3D-print in their own homes. She was so inspired bythe idea she launched Open Bionics with him. Bionic handswith multi-grip functionality cost up to £60,000. "They'rejust too expensive for amputees," Payne tells EmmaSheppard in The Guardian. Open Bionics aims to bring thecost of a personalised hand down to under £5,000.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

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