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The Big Life Fix: Changing Lives Through Engineering

Engineering and design is capable of changing lives. 

Back in 2016 the BBC pulled together 7 of Britain's leading designers, engineers and computer programmers in an attempt to use their combined skills to create new inventions to greatly improve the quality of life for people who were living with a variety of different and specific needs.

DesignSpark blogger Jude Pullen, the man behind RadioGlobe, was part of that team and worked on helping people to overcome a number of problems. 

Helping Kyle to achieve his hairdressing dream

Kyle’s ambition had always been to be a hairdresser, but he was born with a not fully formed hand, making it impossible for him to hold hair while cutting or styling it.

Determined not to give up on his dream he enrolled at a hairdressing academy, but reached a point where his disability was stopping him from progressing any further and he could not complete the course.

Product design engineer Jude needed to come up with a solution that would give Kyle the dexterity required to work as a professional hairstylist.


How Josh finally got to play with his friends 

Eight-year-old Josh loves playing with his friends, but he was born blind and struggled to cope with the frenetic environment of the school playground. Designer Ruby Steel and engineer Jude Pullen have come up with a novel solution so that he can play outside with the rest of his class.


Invention brings happiness to a terminally ill man

Jude was introduced to 22-year old James in 2016, who was terminally ill with skin cancer. He sadly passed away in April 2018. James loved taking photos but his condition meant that his fingers had fused together, making it impossible to use a camera by himself. Jude came up with a clever solution to enable James to start snapping again and ensure that his legacy through photography was secured.

How computer science helped a graphic designer to write again

When Emma Lawton was 29 she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. As a graphic designer, drawing is a huge part of her life but over the past three years the tremor in her hands has grown more pronounced stopping her from writing and drawing straight lines. Enter Haiyan Zhang and her invention that is changing Emma's life.


Find out more about The BBC's Big Life Fix at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b09g5hwf/the-big-life-fix

I am a 32-year-old tech lover, self-confessed geek and football fanatic! When I am not playing with the latest gadget you will often find me watching my favourite TV shows including Game of Thrones, Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory. Feel free to follow me on Instagram @robbiedunion or Twitter @robbiedunion
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