Young engineer uses skills to help other survivors
Rishi Vegad
Age: 28
Occupation: Part-time product tester, Blatchford (prosthetics)
Location: Basingstoke
Of all the possible introductions to engineering, Rishi Vegad’s experience is one that few would wish for. In 2010, at the age of 22, Rishi was hit by a drunk driver and lost a leg as a result of his injuries.
During his rehabilitation he was fitted with a prosthetic leg made by Blatchford, one of the world’s leading makers of artificial limbs, and subsequently started working for the company part-time, while beginning an engineering degree at Kingston University.
“University can be quite detached from the real world and working for Blatchford allows me to be part of a real-life project where a company's fortunes are on the line,” he says. “I get to work as part of a large team of multi-disciplinary members and see how everyone works together. These skills will be valuable when my own career begins.
“I would love to work in the prosthetics industry as I have been exposed to it through limb loss and I am quite fascinated by it. There is also a good feeling about helping people back to normal life through engineering.”
