Loughborough graduate wins recognition for knife wound device

Joseph Bentley said it was a great honour to achieve the recognition

A graduate has won a fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering for his work on a device aimed at reducing deaths from knife wounds.

Joseph Bentley, 23, who graduated from Loughborough University in Leicestershire in 2021, has won an 1851 enterprise fellowship.

Mr Bentley, from Essex, is developing a portable, handheld device aimed at reducing catastrophic blood loss.

The academy said Mr Bentley's work could "help to save lives".

Mr Bentley said he hoped the device would eventually be used by paramedics and police officers

Mr Bentley, who has a BSc in product design and technology, said: "It is a great honour to be selected for this prestigious programme of training and mentorship by the Royal Academy.

"This enterprise fellowship will accelerate our plans for product development and testing, allowing us to get our device into the hands of first responders as soon as possible."

He has been awarded £50,000 of funding to continue the development and testing of the system.

His Rapid Emergency Actuating Tamponade system is a portable handheld device that inserts an expanding tamponade into knife and gunshot wounds to reduce catastrophic blood loss.

Mr Bentley, who now lives in Cambridge, said he hoped the device would eventually be used by first responders - including paramedics and police officers - to help save lives around the world.

In 2021, his business ACT Medical won the UK James Dyson Award for the device.

Ana Avaliani, director of enterprise and sustainable development at the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: "We're thrilled for Joseph to join our enterprise fellowships programme, after developing a solution that could help to save lives.

"Joseph admirably demonstrates what we look for in the entrepreneurs - creative engineering solutions for the benefit all of society."