Social Good Engineering Magazine: GineersNow Social Innovation GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 001 | Page 15

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E L E C T RO - M E C HA N IC A L E NG I N E E R I NG
Real-Life
Iron Man
As the song goes “What
doesn’t kill you makes you
stronger”. This line can be
related to Wayan Sumardana,
a 31-year old welder by trade
from Bali, Indonesia, who
was able to innovate some-
thing amazing despite his
social status and having just
survived a mild stroke.

Wayan, or Tawan
as people call him, was able
to make a bionic arm from
scratch using only tools and
scrap metals from his work-
shop.
Tawan’s arm was left para-
lyzed after he suffered from a
mild stroke. Being his family’s
breadwinner, he had to find a
way to be able to work. Using
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15
his enthusiasm and some
knowledge in electrical engi-
neering, he was able to create
his own mind-controlled
bionic arm.

He can transmit
signals from his head to his
bionic arms, so it can work
like a real arm.
According to Tawan, his ma-
chine works like a lie detector.
Electrodes are attached to his
scalp, wherein it takes signals
from his head. The signals are
them amplified then analyzed
in the micro-control on his
back, then will be transmitted
to his bionic arm.

“I want to motivate
people who have strokes.”
Tawan said.