English entrepreneur
Samantha Joanne Payne MBE is an English entrepreneur. The co-founder of Open Bionics, a bionics company developing affordable prosthetics for children,[1] Payne has won a number of international awards for her work. These include the MIT Technology Review 'Innovators under 35' in 2018,[2] James Dyson gong for innovative engineering[1] and Wired Innovation Fellow in 2016.[3] In the Queen's Birthday Honours list 2020, Payne was awarded an MBE, for her work making bionic technology more accessible.[4]
Early life and education
Born and raised in Knowle West, outside of Bristol, England.[5] Payne is a graduate of Whitworth University and has a Bachelor of Arts/Science.[6]
Career
She worked as a journalist, specialising in technology before becoming a co-founder of Open Bionics.[7] In 2013, whilst working as a journalist, Payne interviewed Joel Gibbard, who was a robotics graduate at the time.[1] Gibbard and Payne later became business partners and co-founders of Open Bionics.[1]
Payne and Gibbard founded Open Bionics in 2014.[1] The start-up was initially based at the Technology Business Incubator at Bristol Robotics Laboratory.[8] The aim of the company was to develop "affordable, assistive devices that enhance the human body."[4]
Open Bionics has partnered with Disney to make prosthetics based on Disney characters for children.[4]
Her work at Open Bionics has been featured in The Guardian [1] and Daily Mirror.[9]
Innovation
Open Bionics uses 3D scanning to take the initial prosthetic fitting and 3D printing to improve the prosthetic design.[1] These innovations significantly reduce the build-time and the material costs for a personalised hand, making prosthetics more affordable for amputees.[1] Payne estimates that, if bought from private providers, bionic hands with multi-grip functionality cost up to £60,000, compared to £5,000 from Open Bionics.[1]
Awards and recognition
In 2015, Payne was shortlisted for Women in Business 'Young Entrepreneur of The Year' award.[8] In 2018, Payne featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Sciences and Healthcare category.[10]
References