Sofía Terradas

Argentinian inventor who developed low-cost prosthetics using recycled materials

Sofía Terradas (b. 1992) is an Argentine biomedical engineer whose Protesis Verdes initiative has provided affordable prosthetic limbs to thousands of amputees in Latin America using recycled materials. Her designs reduce production costs by up to 80% while maintaining superior functionality compared to traditional prosthetics.

Growing up in Córdoba, Terradas witnessed the struggles of her grandfather, who relied on an expensive imported prosthetic. This inspired her to study engineering at the National University of Córdoba, where she began experimenting with recycled plastics and rubber. Her breakthrough came in 2016 with the development of the VerdeFlex knee joint made from recycled tires and ABS plastic, which won the Global Social Venture Competition.

Protesis Verdes uses a combination of 3D printing and local recycling networks to produce limbs tailored to individual patients. Their Open Prosthetics Platform provides free design files and training programs to clinics in 14 countries. By 2022, the initiative had created over 5,000 prosthetics, primarily for children in underprivileged communities.

Terradas' work extends beyond technology - she developed a Mindful Movement training program to help amputees adapt to their new limbs through yoga and physiotherapy. Her TEDx talk "Building Better Prosthetics from Trash" has been viewed nearly 800,000 times.

In 2020 she partnered with UNICEF to establish recycling-based prosthetics workshops in war-torn regions like Syria and Yemen. Her EcoHand prototype, made from ocean plastic waste, received the European Social Innovation Award. Terradas continues to advocate for inclusive design principles, recently launching a Design for All mentorship program for young engineers in the global south.