FAU Student Speaks on Overcoming Adversity at 2015 National oSTEM Conference

Florida Atlantic University student, Chad Coarsey in the College of Engineering and Computer Science had the opportunity to speak at the 2015 National Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (oSTEM) conference. The fall conference, took place November 13 to 15, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Coarsey, 26, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, was born without fingers and only a wrist with knuckles on his left hand and had never used a prosthetic. With the inspiration and help of another FAU graduate student, the two developed an inexpensive prosthetic hand that was printed on a 3D printer as a class project.  In his talk Coarsey presented his new hand and gave a unique perspective on how each adversity in life can give us new and unique opportunities. 

Coarsey is a graduate student at FAU pursuing his Master's degree in Bioengineering, and currently works in the Micro and Nanotechnology in Medicine lab, developing both serological and genomic testing platforms for point-of-care diagnostics. He earned a bachelor's of science degree in Biological Sciences in 2014, he is the current president of the Biomedical Engineering Society at FAU and he is the co-founder and Chief of Bioengineering of the non-profit organization the Bionic Glove Project (BGP), (www.bionicglove.org).

Coarsey plans on continuing his education in developing clinical diagnostics for pathogens including HIV and the Ebola virus, and further developing the BGP to help others in similar situations.

Read more about Coarsey's prosthetic hand here.