Several Dankmeyer staff members participated in the day long Maryland STEM Festival on November 7, 2019. STEM is the shorthand for a Science Technology Engineering Math education concentration. Six hundred excited middle school students attended this great event at the Bioscience Education Center at Montgomery College. The room was full of energy as the first group of three hundred students entered the conference center. Art Ross (Fabrication Technician) and Becca Frost (Board Eligible Prosthetist, Resident Orthotist) joined Dawn Miranda (Dawn Miranda, Prosthetist Assistant) to represent Dankmeyer, Inc. at the festival to inform students about the field of Prosthetics and Orthotics.

The students came full of questions and were eager to try all of the prosthetic components we brought for them to take apart and put together. Each student had an opportunity to see what our daily jobs entail. They could have the experience of an upper limb amputee by using a manual below the elbow arm with a hook that they could put on and then try to pick things up by manipulating the hook. They also could wear an Iwalk 2.0 device to get the feel of how someone with below the knee limb loss has to balance and step. These devices gave the students a better awareness of how an amputee feels in the beginning when they are new to wearing a prosthetic arm or leg.

A variety of other vendors was present to teach the students about many other STEM related fields they could study and work in. The students saw demonstrations on how to field dress limbs (not real ones!) and save lives (the Army trauma response team), presentations from agriculture groups, and the ever popular experiments that helped kids make slime and understand the chemical properties of the materials involved. The animal awareness group had tarantulas, a Leopard Spotted lizard, Bearded Dragon lizard and various exotic bugs to let everyone touch. These activities demonstrated how science plays into our animal ecosystem.

This event was a great time for all and I think students and vendors alike learned so much from each other. It will be a pleasure to attend next year!

Please enjoy a little slide show of our interactions with the students! If you have any questions about any of the devices, or want to understand better limb loss or the need for orthoses (braces), or how to become a prosthetist, orthotist or a fabrication technician, then email info@dankmeyer.com and we will be happy to answer!

• Dawn Miranda, Prosthetist Assistant