Founder Talk: Jianing Li Turns Clinic Grade Prosthetics into a Catalyst for U.S. Tech Talent
Boston, May 4, 2025
In the emerging tech talent race, NeuroMaker STEM has found an unlikely muse: a low‑cost, AI-powered prosthetic hand that middle and high schoolers can 3D print, code and redesign themselves. Co-founder Jianing Li, a Boston University mechanical engineering graduate who once built clinical prostheses for Brain Robotics, explains how a lab prototype became an award‑winning education platform now used in more than 300 schools across North America, why Fortune 500 partners are donating the kits to under served classrooms, and how the program aims to fill a STEM workforce gap that could leave nearly two million U.S. jobs vacant.
Reporter: Your early engineering work was purely medical. What flipped the switch toward education?
Jianing: In my first role at Brain Robotics, I was tweaking what felt like minor specs-reinforcing finger linkages, nudging the water resistance from IP 67 to IP 68. To me, they were incremental upgrades; to amputees, they were life changing. When patients slipped on our machine learning EMG band and effortlessly moved each finger for the first time, some of them cried. That’s when it hit me: Why did I have to wait until after college to witness engineering transform lives? Students should experience that moment sooner—and start making their own real‑world impact.
Reporter: So you re‑engineered the prosthesis for classrooms?
Jianing: Exactly. We stripped the cost, kept the biomechanics- individually actuated fingers, live EMG/EEG input, and bundled more than 100 hours of curriculum from engineering skills to block coding, C++ and hands-on projects. Our products won several education awards as well as Red Dot and iF Design Awards but most importantly, lets students design their own fixes for real user pain points.
Reporter: Impact often hinges on access. How are you reaching under-represented communities?
Jianing: Partnerships. PepsiCo R&D underwrites kit donations to Title I schools like San Miguel Academy in New York, where 8th graders recently built prosthetic hands through a PepsiCo‑NeuroMaker collaboration. In Boston we work with the Public Schools and the Boston Private Industry Council to place kits in majority‑minority classrooms and pair students with industry mentors. Non‑profits such as Building Bridges, Inc., and the PAST Foundation distribute programs in rural districts, ensuring geography isn’t a barrier. Our contents are available in both English and Spanish.
Reporter: Your reach is national now; what’s next?
Jianing: We’re helping more states to modernize their CTE programs, and scale into the big leagues- districts that can touch 300k students in the next two years. We are rolling out a stripped‑down ‘Lite’ version that’s much more affordable with the same great contents. We’re also building a nationwide “Design for Impact” league so schools from Alaska to Puerto Rico can compete annually on assistive‑tech challenges. By 2027 we aim to serve one million learners and certify 50k skilled‑technical workers.
Reporter: Big picture—why does this matter to the country?
Jianing: Think of the technologies that will define the next decade—AI, robotics, biotech, etc. When a tenth grader can train a bit of code to move a 3D printed hand with their own muscle signals, they are already fluent in the skills those industries need. Multiply that experience across thousands of classrooms and the talent shortfall starts to disappear. We trade a two million worker deficit for a home‑grown bench of innovators ready to keep the U.S. out in front.