Edgewood Students Give A Helping Hand To One Of Their Own

Edgewood Middle School students recently used their 3D-printing skills to help one of their own.
In winter 2025, Edgewood’s STEM program partnered with Grace College’s Department of Mechanical Engineering to officially become recognized as a 3D-printed device Maker through e-Nable. To earn the distinction, the team was required to design, print and assemble a fully functional 3D-printed prosthetic hand.
Students worked alongside Grace College engineering majors on the project and were able to assemble seven prosthetic hands. To demonstrate functionality and meet e-Nable requirements, they created and submitted video presentations documenting the design and build process, which led to Edgewood being officially recognized as an approved e-NABLE device Maker.
e-NABLE is a global network of volunteers - often called “digital humanitarians” - dedicated to using 3D printing technology to create free or low-cost prosthetic limbs for individuals in need, according to provided information.
During the project, Abbi Richcreek, Project Lead The Way teacher at Edgewood, noticed one of her students, Owen Lewis, had a limb difference. After talking with school administration, Lewis’ parents were contacted and gave approval for Lewis to participate in the Enable the Future initiative.
Lewis became a member of the build team. Besides Lewis, the team was made up of Edgewood students, Lincoln Rak, Shanelle Brown, Chris Sanchez, Ben Carter, Jordynn Henthorn, Nivin Viswanadh, Jay Horrell and Tanner Streasick, as well as Grace engineering students Emily Bolin and Adrienne Taylor and part-time engineering instructor Matt Remink.
Richcreek said the Edgewood students met once or twice a week during their flex time at school. Remink, Bolin and Taylor mentored the students on Fridays during the project.
The group began by sizing Lewis’ wrist to determine the correct fit. Students 3D printed wrist guards at various scales and collaborated to identify the most appropriate size. A 135% scale was selected.
Richcreek said after the wrist guard was printed out, it was attached to a form. Since Lewis was with the group, it was easy to make modifications during the process.
Lewis said being a part of the group that designed his 3D hand was great because he now knows how it was made and how to repair it. He said when he and Horrell were working together, they really struggled with the thumb because it needed to be put through a hole, so it offered some difficulties.
The team also decided to create additional prosthetic hands in larger sizes for future use.
A mother from Indianapolis later reached out to Edgewood, requesting a 3D-printed hand for her 14-year-old son. The group is currently working on one.
“Our first step right now, is we have printed out different scales of wrist guards and then we’ve traced them on paper. And then, they’ve cut them out. And now we are currently working on a video to send to them with the mail of these paper templates, so they know how to format it on to his arm. And then we’ll wait to get that data back from them,” Richcreek said.