This is Engineering: body rebuilder

This resource is an interview with Chris - a body rebuilder.

"Chris was captivated by robots, gadgets and technology from a young age, but did not know how his passion could be turned into a career that he’d enjoy. He decided to study a degree course in Mechanical Engineering because it offered him enough variety to keep his options open, and soon found himself drawn to robotics. Chris is now a researcher at Imperial College, developing robotic exoskeletons, which combines his passion for cutting edge tech and gadgets with his desire to help people.

Chris didn’t know exactly what he wanted to be growing up. He didn’t even know what engineering was. He loved sci-fi films and was fascinated by the futuristic technology and gadgets in them. At school, he was good at maths and science but he could not decide on a career to aim for. After doing some independent research, Chris found that he could pursue several of his interests in gadgets and how they work by studying engineering, and from that do something meaningful for a career.

Chris started a degree in Mechanical Engineering, still unsure what he wanted to do. As he advanced through the course, he found himself drawn to projects involving robotics and programming, and which suited his love of futuristic gadgets. As his degree progressed, Chris was able to combine a passion for helping people with his skills working with technology to pursue research in medical robotics. For his final year project Chris worked on a robotic hand and saw directly how his work could change the lives of amputees. Chris has continued to develop robotic exoskeletons that are responsive and give amputees and people recovering from strokes a better quality of life."

This resource forms part of the This is Engineering campaign.