Shining World Invention Award Recipient: Dr. Karthikeyan Kandan – Golden Age Inventor of Affordable Sustainable Prosthetic Limbs

Dr. Karthikeyan Kandan, Associate Director of the Institute of Engineering Sciences at De Montfort University, United Kingdom, is an ingenious inventor and engineer of the Golden Age. “We focused on this research because there are 30 million amputees living in low-income countries. Giving the first prosthesis is very, very important, so that they can walk and then they can live their life and they have dignity. That’s the best thing you could do for less-abled people, I would say, rather than giving anything.”

Dr. Kandan has ingeniously developed a new material made of plastic bottles that can be used to manufacture high-quality artificial limbs at a fraction of their regular cost. His technique involves grinding down plastic bottles to produce a polyester yarn that is then heated and moulded into a prosthetic limb. These artificial arms and legs are light and robust, and the average production cost of a single prosthetic limb is reduced from £5,000 to £10.

“The plan is we are trying to educate the NGOs across the world. For example, we are trying to work with the NGOs in African countries and also the BMVSS (Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti) based in India; They have centers in 26 different countries. Then, they will be able to mass-produce the limbs.”

Upon learning about this remarkable development, Supreme Master Ching Hai gladly presented Dr. Karthikeyan Kandan the Shining World Invention Award, “plus US$10,000 to humbly support this eco-pioneering and heart-body comforting invention.” She also added, “May Heavens inspire you more as you help better our co-citizens’ lives, in God’s abundant Grace.” “In recognition of your creative brilliance, ingenuity and scientific genius, creating low-cost, sustainable, planet-friendly prosthetic limbs, creating a brighter future for patients worldwide.”

Dr. Kandan’s next project is the “bird-nest brick,” a low-cost, high-quality insulation building material made from plastic waste using 3D printing. Inspired by the Southeast Asian Baya weaverbird-people’s elaborately woven nests, the brick was invented to assist the less fortunate while reducing plastic pollution.