From Lego hand in Syria to AI prosthetic in Canada: Ahmed Ibrahim's journey

At 10, Ahmed Ibrahim tried to build a prosthetic hand out of Lego blocks and tiny motors salvaged from a remote-control helicopter to help his best friend, who had lost a hand in a bombing in Syria. The homemade device failed, but the experience stayed with him. Nearly 15 years later, Ibrahim, now based in Canada, is developing an artificial hand powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and muscle signals. According to a Hamilton Health Sciences profile on the innovator, Ibrahim has received a DRIVE SPARK grant to advance the project, which aims to improve prosthetic control and make advanced artificial limbs more accessible.Ibrahim's journey from a childhood experiment to a medical technology startup reflects how personal experiences can shape innovation. The 25-year-old had received a DRIVE SPARK funding grant to advance his robotic hand.