A Loughborough University 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, the founder of ACT Medical, has won an 1851 enterprise fellowship for his portable handheld device that inserts an expanding tamponade into knife and gunshot wounds to reduce catastrophic blood loss.

Joseph’s vision is that it will be used by first responders – including paramedics and police officers – to help save lives around the world.

The fellowship includes £50,000 of equity-free funding.

Joseph 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.”