Engineering a Better
Human Life.
We exist for one reason: to use the best science and engineering available to restore movement, independence, and quality of life for people whose bodies need support.
Our Story
Bionic Foundation was established in 2016 by Philip Odegard as an initiative of the Odegard Foundation — the same network that powers research and innovation across environmental science, economics, and human advancement.
The founding insight was simple, and troubling: the technology to give a person their arm back, or enable someone with a spinal cord injury to stand, existed in fragments — in academic papers, in engineering labs, in individual devices — but the commitment to build a full pipeline from foundational research to clinical implementation did not. Bionic Foundation was built to be that pipeline.
We operate at the intersection of three fields: bionics (the design and fabrication of functional prosthetic and assistive devices), robotics (the mechanical and electromechanical systems that power them), and artificial intelligence (the adaptive control and neural interface systems that make them feel like part of the person using them). No one field alone is sufficient. Together, they represent the most promising path to dramatically better outcomes for people living with limb loss, mobility impairment, and spinal conditions.
What We Do
The Foundation pursues its mission through three integrated functions:
Research. We fund and conduct basic and applied research across all four of our core areas — limb prosthetics, mobility assistance, spine and neck systems, and AI and robotics platforms. We publish everything we produce as open-access work, because the purpose of this research is to help people, not to accumulate advantage.
Development. Research findings move directly into development programs, where our engineering teams prototype, test, refine, and validate new devices and systems. We run a full product development cycle internally — from concept through bench testing through animal and human trials — so that discoveries become working technologies.
Implementation. The most advanced bionic arm in the world has no value if it doesn't reach the person who needs it. The Foundation runs dedicated implementation programs to support clinical deployment, clinician training, fitting, and long-term patient support for the devices and systems we develop and endorse.
Who We Serve
Our work is built around people who are living today with conditions that bionics can address. That includes people with upper and lower limb amputations or congenital limb differences; people with spinal cord injury at any level; people with neurological or musculoskeletal conditions affecting their ability to walk, stand, or control their limbs; and people with cervical and neck conditions requiring structural support.
We are not building for a future patient. We are building for the person who exists today, who has been waiting long enough.
Founded By
Philip Odegard
Philip Odegard founded Bionic Foundation in 2016 as part of his broader commitment — through the Odegard Foundation — to using rigorous science and engineering in service of human welfare. He founded Bionic Foundation specifically because he saw an urgent, addressable gap: the science existed, the engineering was achievable, but no organization was building the full pipeline from discovery to the person in need.
Philip leads the Foundation's strategic direction and maintains close involvement with its research and development programs. He is the founder of the Odegard Foundation and a network of research and policy initiatives spanning environmental science, economics, and human advancement.
Contact the Foundation →An Initiative of the Odegard Foundation
Bionic Foundation operates as an initiative of the Odegard Foundation, a family of research and innovation organizations founded by Philip Odegard. The Foundation's network includes organizations focused on environmental science, economics, and emerging technology — all operating from the same core conviction: that rigorous, independent research, pursued with integrity and applied with urgency, can materially improve human life.
Operating within the Odegard Foundation network gives Bionic Foundation structural stability, shared infrastructure, and cross-disciplinary connections that strengthen its work. Where human mobility intersects with materials science, environmental medicine, or economic access to healthcare, we draw on the broader network's expertise.
Visit Odegard Foundation →To advance the science, engineering, and implementation of bionic and robotic systems that restore function, independence, and quality of life for people with missing limbs, mobility impairments, and spinal conditions.
Founded: 2016
Founder: Philip Odegard
Part of: Odegard Foundation
Focus: Bionics · Robotics · AI · Implementation
Publications: Open Access
Join the Mission
We work with researchers, clinicians, engineers, and the people we serve to build what's needed. Get in touch to explore how to collaborate.
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