On Saturday, Aadeel and I finally arrived in Quito, Ecuador! I say finally because we were actually supposed to be here Friday, but our flight was cancelled due to thunderstorms in Atlanta. As a result, we were forced to sleep in the airport. Pro tip: If one ever has to sleep in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport, don't make the same mistake we did and sleep in Concourse E. Instead, go to Concourse F. As we found out after the fact, Delta gave out red blankets there. Luckily though, despite a scare that we would not arrive until Sunday night, we made it in Saturday afternoon with all of our equipment intact!

Downtown Quito, complete with a lovely snow-capped volcano in the background.

So, why are we here enjoying this lovely hotel view, courtesy of the US Embassy?

Earlier this year, Aadeel and Patrick began a collaboration with David Krupa and the Range of Motion Project (ROMP) to provide prostheses to the people of Ecuador who cannot afford them. The US Embassy in Ecuador is supporting our efforts to bring state-of-the-art technology to low-cost prostheses while working to solve issues affecting prostheses users all over the world. We are currently focused on developing upper limb, myoelectric prostheses, which are controlled by electrical signals generated when patients contract their intact muscles.

We hope that our work here will not only help Ecuadorians, but also patients in more developed nations who face similar challenges in terms of cost and ease of use.