Kaylee Herrig works to improve prosthetic access worldwide.
Kaylee Herrig set out early on her engineering journey, building LEGO® creations and STEM projects throughout elementary school. But it was an “aha” moment in seventh grade that solidified her path — a news story about a man receiving an artificial hand.
“I realized you could apply the fundamentals of engineering to solve the problem of a lost limb,” she says. “When I learned I could study this in college, I thought this is the way I can help the world.”
Now a senior at Iowa State, Kaylee is pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering with a biomedical engineering minor. Her passion extends from the classroom to the bionics lab of Kerri Haen, teaching professor in genetics, development, and cell biology.
— Kaylee Herrig
“Working in the lab to translate thoughts into motion excites me in a way I wasn’t expecting,” Kaylee says of her work with myoelectric software. “People need this.”
With disease and trauma causing limb loss worldwide, the need for prosthetics is high. Kaylee, who was awarded multiple scholarships including the Roderick Seward, Flossie Ratcliffe, and Helen M. Galloway Foundation Mechanical Engineering Expendable Scholarship, is already making an impact.
“I went to Ecuador for two weeks to work with a nonprofit and build prosthetics for individuals who can’t afford them, which is about 95% of the people who need them,” she says. “The experience was shocking. It will impact how I see the world for the rest of my life.”
