FARIBAULT — Two Faribault high school students are dedicating their final two years of engineering classes to designing a prosthetic hand for a local 14-year-old girl.

Shattuck-St. Mary’s juniors Brette Pettet and Maddie Mills hope to create a prosthetic hand that appears somewhat lifelike and can perform basic functions for Bethlehem Academy eighth-grader Elizabeth Stroh, whose left arm curtails to the mere beginning of a hand, the Faribault Daily News reported.

Stroh was born with her physical disability, which doctors have said was either the result of genetics or an issue with the umbilical cord. She said she’s become more self-conscious about it as she’s gotten older, but she expects the prosthetic hand to boost her confidence.

“When I was little, I never really worried about it,” she said. “I’ve noticed it now. Sometimes I really wish I had a normal hand.”

Shattuck-St. Mary’s teacher Mike Boone, who worked in the engineering industry for 13 years and has spent the last 11 years teaching the subject, came to Pettet and Mills with the potentially life-changing project and will be helping them along the way.

“I thought if any high school students could pull this off, it’s these two,” Boone said. “And as I saw the types of designs out there, I became more confident in their abilities and hopefully my ability to lead them.”

This year, the student duo put in the design work and made a plastic mold to get an idea of how the prosthetic might work. Next year, they plan to complete the design and create the prosthetic with aluminum using a mold of Stroh’s right hand.

The students are considering using a smartwatch, which would be attached to the end of Stroh’s arm, to control the prosthetic hand.

Pettet and Mills, who may pursue bio-medical engineering after high school, are learning invaluable lessons about how successes and failures can affect a person. And Stroh is learning that her physical disability can provide opportunities for herself and others.

“Maybe (when I get the prosthetic hand), more people will be comfortable to ask, ‘Oh, where’d you get the cool robot hand?’” Stroh said.