In clinics across the country, amputees are often forced to choose between affordability and safety. One engineering student decided that choice should not exist and built a prosthetic knee to prove it.
Western Cape, South Africa (26 January 2026) – Mobility changes everything. It determines how people move through the world, how safely they live their lives, how independently they work and how confidently they show up in their communities.
That is why the work being done by Stellenbosch University student and biomedical engineer Amohetsoe Shale matters so deeply right now, not just as an award-winning idea, but as a living, evolving solution that is moving closer to real-world impact in 2026.
At the heart of her work is an affordable, high-performing passive polycentric prosthetic knee that has the potential to transform the lives of above-knee amputees who have long been priced out of quality mobility. While Shale was named Top Student Womanpreneur at the EDHE Entrepreneurship Intervarsity, the real hero is the innovation itself: a carefully engineered knee designed for durability, stability, and dignity, without the prohibitive price tag that so often puts advanced prosthetics out of reach.
Shale, founder and CEO of NAVU, is currently completing her MEng in Biomedical Engineering at Stellenbosch University, building on a BHSc in Medical Orthotics and Prosthetics (cum laude) from Walter Sisulu University. Her academic journey has always been grounded in clinical reality. During her undergraduate studies, she worked directly with amputees and saw firsthand how many transfemoral patients were being fitted with the most basic devices available, often compromising safety, comfort and long-term independence.
Her response was not frustration but action.
Her prosthetic knee uses a four-bar polycentric linkage that more closely mimics natural human movement, allowing for a smoother and more stable gait across uneven terrain. By integrating off-the-shelf components such as mountain bike shocks, the design introduces shock absorption and energy return at a fraction of the cost of imported alternatives. Every element has been developed using Design for Manufacturing principles, ensuring the knee can be produced using low-cost processes and repaired locally.
“The knee has been developed using Design for Manufacturing (DFM) principles to ensure it can be produced using low-cost manufacturing processes. It is also fully modular, making local repairs and adjustments easier for clinicians. Its key features include durability, ease of fitting and maintenance with reliable performance across uneven terrain and in the daily activities common within amputee user communities,” she explains.
NAVU is one of very few teams designing and commercialising a passive polycentric prosthetic knee in South Africa, with a clear mission to bridge the gap between high-cost commercial components and the urgent needs of clinics and amputees in underserved settings.
For Shale, the motivation is deeply personal and profoundly ethical.
“The knee is one of the most complex joints in the body. It’s not just a hinge; it rotates around shifting centres, absorbs shock, stabilises the body, and largely determines the quality of mobility an amputee can achieve. Yet many patients were being fitted with the absolute bare minimum, devices that often made walking difficult, unsafe, or painful.
“What troubled me most was knowing that advanced prosthetic technology does exist in South Africa, but many patients would never access it simply because they cannot afford it. As a society, we should never accept that something as fundamental as mobility depends on how wealthy someone is.”
What began as a proof of concept in her final undergraduate year has now become a refined, clinically focused innovation. The R135 000 in prize money Shale earned across multiple EDHE categories is already being channelled into prototype refinement, bench testing, and small-scale user trials.
The next phase includes regulatory preparation, pilot manufacturing, and partnerships with rehabilitation clinics, NGOs, and healthcare providers.
“This affirms the hard work of the entire NAVU team and our collaborators,” she says. “Winning in multiple categories was a powerful reminder that the problem we’re solving truly matters. I don’t take these honours lightly. In a country where women still face so many barriers, I am incredibly proud to stand among a generation of females who persevere, innovate and push forward despite adversity.”
Representation, she believes, is not a side note but a responsibility.
“They highlight the growing visibility, influence and excellence of women in engineering, health technology and entrepreneurship. Representation truly matters. When young women see other women succeeding, it expands the boundaries of what they believe is possible for themselves.”
Looking ahead five years, Shale envisions NAVU operating regional production or assembly facilities across sub-Saharan Africa, supplying affordable, clinically validated prosthetic knees while training local technicians and clinicians to fit and maintain them independently. Her vision is technical, systemic, and cultural all at once.
“I want young African amputees to see themselves represented… to see other African amputees wearing NAVU prosthetics on billboards, in workplaces, in sport, and in everyday life. Amputees deserve visibility, dignity and opportunity, and I want to be part of reshaping that reality.”
Competitions like those run by EDHE, a collaboration between Universities South Africa and the Department of Higher Education and Training, have played a vital role in helping that vision move from lab to life. They offer student innovators validation, exposure, and access to the networks needed to scale ideas that matter.
The awards matter, but they are not the most important part of this story. The real story is a young engineer who stood in clinics, listened to amputees, and decided that “good enough” was not good enough. If this prosthetic knee does what it has been designed to do, it will change how people walk through their days, their work, and their futures. And that kind of progress always starts with someone refusing to look away.
Sources: Press release shared by Janine Greenleaf Walker, a contract writer for Universities South Africa.
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