Dankmeyer at the Maryland STEM Festival

Art Ross ready to assemble a device.

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.

Art Ross shows a student some components.

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.

Dawn shows a student an IWalk device.

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


Congratulations, Rochelle Dumm, CPO!

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Please join us in congratulating Rochelle Dumm on passing her board examinations to make her a Certified Prosthetist! Rochelle had completed her orthotic residency at another facility, and came to Dankmeyer to complete her prosthetic residency. Along the way, she passed her boards for orthotics and became a Certified Orthotist. Now she is a CPO! We are so happy to have her as part of the Dankmeyer family. Well done, Rochelle!

Welcome to Dankmeyer Mike Miranda!

Please join us in welcoming Mike Miranda as the newest addition to the Dankmeyer family! Mike will be working in Shipping and Receiving. He comes to us with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering as well as an associate’s degree in architecture. He has many years of mechanical equipment sales and service as well as equipment maintenance and repair. Mike is also bilingual - as he is fluent in Spanish - and will lend his translation skills wherever he can. Originally from Spencer, Massachusetts, Mike is a recent transplant from San Antonio, Texas along with his wife, Dawn Miranda, who recently joined Dankmeyer as a Prosthetist Assistant. He is looking forward to having the four seasons back and spending time with his grandchildren. Mike’s hobbies are mountain bike riding, fishing, hunting and archery.

Dankmeyer at 65!

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Yes, 2019 marks the 65th birthday of Dankmeyer, Inc. Started September 29, 1954, Dankmeyer has been in prosthetic and orthotic patient care since just after the Korean War.

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Dankmeyer Inc. was founded to provide prostheses and orthoses to patients in Maryland and nearby communities. The practice developed and has maintained an excellent reputation throughout the community and has relationships with all of the medical teaching institutions in the area as well as most of the private hospitals and insurers. The practice was founded on the principle of being sensitive to the needs of the community and providing services to meet those needs. We were founded by Charles “Herb” Dankmeyer, himself a bilateral below the knee amputee. Dankmeyer, Inc is now the largest provider of orthoses and prostheses in the State of Maryland.

Dankmeyer can claim a number of “firsts" in its lengthy service, both nationally and regionally:

  • Proportional switch control of upper limb prostheses

  • Single control site, multiple joint control upper limb prostheses

  • Powered shoulder system for upper limb prostheses

  • Total contact above knee suction sockets

  • All plastic sockets

  • Total contact below knee sockets

  • Hydraulic knee control systems

  • Pneumatic knee control systems

  • Variable friction knee control systems

  • Self suspending below elbow prostheses

  • Immediate postoperative prostheses

  • Preparatory prostheses

  • Self suspending below knee prostheses

  • Articulating partial foot prostheses

  • Myoelectric controlled upper limb prostheses

  • Endoskeletal lower limb prostheses

  • Natural skin finishes on lower limb prostheses

  • Plastic lower limb orthoses

  • Plastic upper limb orthoses

Dankmeyer staff, some of whom have been a part of the company for forty years, continue to serve the community in four office locations, and in a number of clinic environments. We continue to incorporate new techniques, train new residents and interns, teach new students at a variety of educational institutions, continue individual professional education efforts, and support a number of community events by sponsorship and volunteering.

We are committed to enriching the lives of all those in the communities we serve.

Welcome to Dankmeyer, Dawn Miranda!

Please join us in welcoming Dawn Miranda to the Dankmeyer team!  Dawn comes to us from San Antonio, Texas, where she worked as a prosthetics and orthotics patient care advocate for the past two and a half years.  Dawn is fulfilling a new role at Dankmeyer as a Prosthetist Assistant.  Her many years in healthcare – both in patient care as a licensed practical nurse and in administration - make her a valuable addition to our clinical staff.

Dawn also brings a unique set of skills and knowledge to the team, as she is a left below knee amputee.  She is a very active adaptive athlete - participating in 5k running events, hiking, mountain biking, downhill skiing and horsemanship. She is a two-time survivor of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and active in online support groups to help other amputees as well as cancer survivors.  Dankmeyer will also take advantage of her education and experience in marketing as part of our marketing team.  Originally from upstate New York, her family relocated to Maryland to be close to their grandchildren.  She is already enjoying the more moderate weather, and looks forward to experiencing winter again!