New Hand, New Friends: Students Build Robotic Hand for a Classmate

High school students in Tennessee built a 3D-printed robotic hand for a classmate who was missing part of his.

“Living without a hand for 15 years and they actually offered me two is actually pretty cool. No one has ever offered me this stuff – [it] changed my life,” says Sergio Peralta.

Peralta lived his first 15 years of life without his right hand. Students in an engineering class learned of Peralta’s missing hand after he arrived at his new school this past fall. They set out on a four-week mission to design, size and 3D-print a prosthetic hand for their peer. Upon receiving his new hand, Peralta was thrilled to learn he could play catch now. What’s more, Peralta did not know the strangers that set out to build his prosthetic – ultimately, he gained a hand and a handful of friends, too.