Top 20 team in the 2018 High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge at the University of Utah. lassonde.utah.edu/hsuec

1. The Orca
PROSTHETIC FISHING DEVICE
Maria Howcroft | The Utah High School Entrepreneurial Challenge | 4.1.2018

2. PAGE 1
A little bit about me.
A little about me I was born with a rare condition called triple X. it’s a formation of an
extra x female chromosome that formed when I was conceived. Weird right? It has
caused me to have physical, mental, and development problems since birth. It took me
longer to walk and to talk than most other kids my age. But I got there. I was diagnosed
with extreme anxiety disorder, adhd, oppositional defiance disorder and learning
developmental delays. I also have muscular developmental disorders that have caused
me not to be as strong or graceful as other kids my age, this has also caused moderate
to severe scoliosis in my spine.
When I was younger I had trouble doing well in school in fact I hated it and I was
always getting bad grades. School gave me extreme anxiety and I could not perform well
there, until 7th grade when I discovered fishing. I loved it from day one I had tried so
many different sports from cheer to karate, you name my parents tried to get me to do
it to make new friends and find confidence nothing worked though. I found fishing when
my dad got very sick and almost died he was in the hospital for weeks and I was very
scared to lose him. Thankfully he got better but the dr. said he would never be normal
again and that he couldn’t work anymore. The dr. said he needed to find a hobby to
keep him active and keep him from getting depressed about not working anymore or he
might get depressed and then give up and die. I was relieved but scared so I was trying
to find something him and I could do together. One day I was going through a closet and
I found these weird looking poles I asked my dad what they were for and he said fishing.
I asked him why he didn’t fish anymore, and he told me because his grandpa was his
fishing buddy and he had died and so he didn’t fish anymore because he would rather
spend time with me and mommy. I asked if he would teach me and then I could be his
fishing buddy. He agreed, and I gained a new passion and a tool that has helped me over
come so many of the obstacles in my life.
That summer I made my dad take me fishing every day. I started to get up early in
the morning like 4am instead of 12 noon every day. Fishing made me so happy all the
time this made it to where I didn’t fight with my parents anymore. Going into fishing
stores and asking for advice helped me to get over a lot of my anxiety. I used to read at
a 1st grade level and because I am always study new species of fish and how to target
them I am now at a 6th grade reading level. Last year I competed in a state competition
and my team took first place at our school and 2nd place at the state competition I was
the first special education student to make it to this level in the history of my school and
district. I made honor roll several times and finish the last school year with a 3.5 gpa. It’s
all thanks to fishing it has been very therapeutic for me and my goal is to be the first pro
with disabilities to win the bass pro tour. I would also like to use my fame and
knowledge to help other teens and children with disabilities to discover the therapeutic
value of fishing, so it can hopefully help them like it has helped me.

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The Problem
The problem is lots of amputees and people born without upper limbs either liked
to fish before there amputation or would like to try it. However, there are not a lot of
options on the market for fishing prosthetics. I was only able to find a couple and they
are large bulky and awkward.
Not to mention
they are very expensive. They cost several hundred dollars. Most amputees are being
serviced by systems like work mans comp or Medicare which only provide what is
deemed to be necessary prosthetic devices. Leaving the amputee to pocket the bill for
any prosthetics that benefit them recreationally. The companies that make these
devices charge outrageous prices because they can, they literally corner the market. The
devices don’t work that well either the rod sits in a unnatural position that makes both
casting and then reeling in a fish after you have hooked up awkward. I was determined
to find a better way, and I did!

4. PAGE 3
The Solution
I needed to come up with a design that would both improve and benefit
amputees while being cost effective. I came up with both. My design is straight lined
and ergonomically comfortable for both casting and reeling. It simulates how someone
that is not an amputee would bend their wrist and tuck the rod against their forearm in
a straight line for support.
The first run of my prototype was a succes but had one flaw the pole would
occasionally slip partially out of the Orca fishing prosthetic I went back to the dawing
board and came up with a solution . I lined the inside of the Orca with a griping rubber
substance . after that there was no more slipping of the pole what so ever. After I had a
fully functional prototype I paited it to resemble its name sake the Orca

5. PAGE 4
My prototype also answers the question of cost. Instead of costing hundreds my device
was designed and produced for under ten dollars. It was tested and performed
flawlessly with a double amputee. My original design was intended to operate on a
single amputee’s prosthetic but with a few modifications I made to the fishing pole itself
The volunteer subject Samoana Matagi also known as the “No Handed Bandit” was able
to use and operate a fishing pole for the first time since his double amputation 7 years
ago with the help of my device “THE ORCA”. By the time you read this I will have a 3d
scan made of the The Orca prosthetic device, that I can then have rendered into an
injection mold for mass production out of a hard abs plastic. This will cost under 15
dollars to manufacture and will have a price point under fifty dollars making it much
more accessible to amputees. The Orca works with a wide array of standard sized fishing

6. PAGE 5
poles like baitcaisting rods, spin caster rods, and solid cork or foam handled rods. It also
secures baitcaster, spinning, and push button reels effortlessly .
The Customer
There are approximately 2,000,000 amputees in America alone.
Approximately 185,000 amputations take place every year in America. As of 2015
there were 1,645 military service men and women with major amputations due to
service related injuries between 2001 to 2015. There are 50,000 new upper
extremity amputations every year in USA based on information from the National
Center for Health Statistics. The ratio of upper limb to lower limb amputation is 1:4.

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The most common is partial hand amputation with loss of 1 or more fingers, 61,000.
The next most common is loss of one arm, 25,000. For the existence of every
350,000 persons with amputations in USA, 30% have upper limb loss of this, wrist
and hand amputations are estimated to make up 10% of upper limb population
trans-
radial amputations make up 60% of total wrist and hand amputations which means
70% of all persons with upper limb amputations have amputations distal to the
elbow (3) In US 41,000 persons are registered who had an amputation of hand or
complete arm 60% of arm amputations are between ages 21 and 64 years and 10%
are under 21 years of age.
So, there is a significant amount of people who would benefit from my product,
maybe because they loved to fish before there amputation or maybe they would like
to try fishing for the first time but were never able to because of the outrageous cost
of other prosthetic devices. My invention gives them a cheap and reliable alternative
to either get out there and try something new or to get back into what they loved
doing in the first place. Fishing has been a life changer for me and I just want to give
back to the fishing community by making it more accessible to other people with
disabilities. Thank you esteemed judges for this amazing opportunity and for your
consideration as a finalist. I would also like to thank the Lassonde Institute for
allowing me to be apart of this competition which has inspired me to create this
awesome porotype that will benefit so many lives.

8. PAGE 7
The Prototype

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A huge thank you to Sam the no handed bandit for helping me to achieve my goal!
References:

10. PAGE 9
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