Students, Northrop Grumman make prosthetic hands for kids

A prosthetic hand can change a child's life. To make simple prostheses more readily available, Northrop Grumman Corp. manufactured more than 100 hands at 12 of its campuses across the country during the recent Manufacturing Week.

At the company's Rolling Meadows campus last week, a group of employees and local high school students created 10 hands, which will be donated to local recipients and to e-NABLE, a nonprofit that provided the plans for the hands.

Joseph McMillan, a student at William Fremd High School in Palatine, was among the students paired with manufacturing specialists for the day. While many of the hands would go to unknown recipients, Joseph's work would go to someone he knew well. His younger sister, Joy, would go home with the hand Joseph assembled.

It will be "a whole new world" for her, he said.

Joy's mother, Jan McMillan, also noted the difference the hand would make in her daughter's life.

"It's a huge boost to her self-confidence. It's exciting for her see what the future could hold for her, because this is just the start of the way prosthetics are going to be made."

Making the project possible was advanced three dimensional, additive printing currently in use at Northrop Grumman for rapid prototyping and tooling. Using the technology, a hand can be printed and assembled in less than 24 hours and at significantly lower cost than traditional prosthetics.

According to Joe Sarnello, director of manufacturing at the Rolling Meadows campus, the project presented a unique opportunity to bring together several initiatives, including STEM education, manufacturing career awareness and service to the community.

"There is a huge need out there, especially for young adults and children, because they're growing. The cost of a prosthetic can be a financial burden for parents," said Sarnello.

Northrop Grumman's contribution to the project goes beyond the hands that will be donated. Engineer John Hamilton developed detailed work instructions for assembly that will be donated to e-NABLE for use by other volunteers. The step-by-step instructions are based on manufacturing practices to ensure a consistent, high quality result.

The gift of a new hand made an immediate impression on Joy McMillan. By the end of the day, she was not just a recipient, but also a volunteer, going from station to station as an "inspector" to conduct quality checks.