IF YOU THINK YOU NEED TO WAIT until you have a college degree to make a major impact on the world, take note: Katherine Bomkamp was in HIGH SCHOOL when she invented the Pain Free Socket, a prosthetic device that eases “phantom limb” pain. Phantom limb pain occurs when the nerve cells remaining after an amputation send signals to the brain as if the limb were still attached to the body.
The idea was inspired by her chats with soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with missing limbs. “My father was in the Air Force for 20 years and his last duty station was the Pentagon,” explains Bomkamp. “I would go to Walter Reed Army Medical Center with my dad and see a lot of very young amputees. I would talk with them and do research online to learn about phantom limb pain. It affects 80 percent of the world’s 10 million amputees and there’s no medication on the market approved for treatment.”
Bomkamp theorized that the brain could be forced to focus on heat applied to the severed nerve endings in the residual limb, rather than sending signals to a limb that is no longer there. “I have incorporated thermal biofeedback into the prosthetic socket, which is the concept of very concentrated and controlled heat. The amputee sets their own heat settings (based on the amount of pain they are experiencing) on a remote [controller], which sends the temperature setting to the microcontroller onboard the prosthetic socket.” Now in its third generation, the Pain Free Socket can even be activated wirelessly from a smartphone.
Although not commercially available yet, the Pain Free Socket is moving into small-scale testing. If all goes well, Bomkamp is hoping to license the technology to the largest domestic prosthetic company.
Now 20, Bomkamp is a political science major at West Virginia University, a surprise to most who assume she’s an engineering major. And although she does have a minor in entrepreneurship that’s come in handy, Bomkamp insists that both her minor AND her major have helped her fund, launch and pre-market the Pain Free Socket. “I am the CEO of my own company, Katherine Bomkamp International (KBI), and the writing skills I have learned as a political science major have been instrumental in applying for grants. I’ve also been able to study some of our world’s greatest leaders, whom I hope to emulate.”
Certainly, her experience already is enough to make even an entrepreneurship major jealous. “I’ve learned so much about starting a small business, and managing a company and employees,” says Bomkamp, “and a lot about ethics in the business world, all things that have been really useful for me.”
As for balancing school and her business life, the straight-A student (who also has an internship with the president’s office on campus) says it’s not always easy. “It can definitely get tough! I put school above everything else, and I’m really good at managing my time. I don’t have the ‘typical’ college experience, but I make time for friends and relaxing. I work really hard, and that’s what pays off for me.”
Great job, Katherine! We’re sure you’ll be an inspiration to My College Guide’s readers!
