Media are encouraged to attend and cover the event.
WHAT: SivaTeja Pati, a student in the Texas Tech University Honors College and Center for the Integration of STEM Education & Research, will present a 3D-printed prosthetic hand he created in the University LibraryMakerspace to Malakai Johnson, a 10-year-old Smyer Elementary student who was born with two incredibly rare conditions, Poland syndrome and Moebius syndrome, as well as Bell's palsy and dextrocardia.
WHEN: 5 p.m. Friday (Feb. 1)
WHERE: University Library Makerspace, room 132
MORE: Poland syndrome is a disorder in which affected individuals are born with missing or underdeveloped muscles on one side of the body, resulting in abnormalities that can affect the chest, shoulder, arm and hand. Poland syndrome affects about 1 in 20,000 newborns, according to the National Institutes of Health. Moebius syndrome is a neurological condition that primarily affects the muscles that control facial expression and eye movement. It affects between 1 in 50,000 and 1 in 500,000 newborns. The odds of having both conditions are astronomical.
In addition to missing most of his right hand, Malakai is missing most of the right side of his body, his right arm is underdeveloped, he's blind in his left eye and near-sighted in his right, he has substantial hearing loss and damage to six major nerves.
After learning about Pati's work last spring to create a 3D-printed prosthetic hand for a Lubbock boy, Malakai's mother, Audrey Dominguez, contacted Pati in the fall to see if he could create a prosthetic for her son as well. Friday's event is the finale of a monthslong process.
EVENT: Parking is available in the R3 parking lot south of the University Library or the R11 parking lot south of the School of Music. Click here to register a vehicle for a parking pass using the vehicle's state and license plate number.
CONTACT: Glenys Young, media relations specialist, Office of Communications & Marketing, Texas Tech University, (806) 742-2136 or glenys.young@ttu.edu
