Building Mobility: LA's New Prosthetics Hub to Serve Community & LA28

CARSON, CA – April 10, 2026 – California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) is now home to a groundbreaking facility poised to transform both healthcare education and community access to care. General contractor BNBuilders, in partnership with AC Martin, has announced the completion of the new Orthotics & Prosthetics Maker Studio, a state-of-the-art building designed to train the next generation of mobility specialists while providing vital services directly to the public.

Located across from Dignity Health Sports Park, the new single-story structure serves as the permanent home for CSUDH's esteemed Orthotics & Prosthetics (O&P) program. More than just a collection of classrooms, the facility is an integrated ecosystem where students will design, fabricate, and fit custom prosthetic limbs and orthopedic braces for real patients, merging academic theory with immediate, tangible impact.

A New Era for Prosthetics Education

The Maker Studio represents a significant evolution for the CSUDH O&P program, which has grown from a bachelor's program founded in 1984 to a fully accredited, 20-month Master of Science degree. Known for its rigorous, hands-on curriculum, the program boasts a 100% residency placement rate for its graduates, a testament to its effectiveness in preparing clinicians for the demands of the field.

The program intentionally maintains a close-knit learning environment, accepting only 24 students per cohort to ensure significant one-on-one mentorship from faculty. The curriculum is intensely practical, requiring students to complete 36 patient projects and accumulate over 600 hours of external clinical experience before graduation.

The new facility is custom-built to amplify this educational model. It features a dedicated maker space and mechatronics lab for exploring advanced technologies, alongside specialized plaster and machining rooms for traditional fabrication work. Crucially, these workshops are integrated with on-site clinical spaces, student labs, and conference areas, allowing for a seamless workflow from patient consultation and digital scanning to device manufacturing and final fitting. This structure breaks down the traditional walls between the classroom and the clinic, creating a dynamic environment where learning is synonymous with doing.

Addressing a Critical Community Need

The impact of the CSUDH Maker Studio extends far beyond the university campus. It arrives at a critical time for Los Angeles County, where an estimated 1.2 million people live with a disability. Of those, approximately half a million residents face mobility or ambulatory challenges. Furthermore, a 2015 county report found that over a quarter of adults with disabilities reported difficulty obtaining necessary medical services, citing barriers such as transportation and access to specialized care.

Demand for skilled O&P professionals is projected to grow 15% over the next five years, driven by an aging population and a rising incidence of conditions like diabetes and vascular disease, which can lead to amputation. The new facility directly addresses this burgeoning need in two fundamental ways. First, it will expand the pipeline of highly skilled, practice-ready O&P professionals graduating into the Southern California healthcare system. Second, by integrating patient care directly into its educational model, the center will immediately increase the availability of orthotic and prosthetic services for the surrounding community, helping to close the access-to-care gap.

Innovation in Motion: Inside the Maker Studio

The facility is not just a training ground; it is an incubator for innovation. The term 'Maker Studio' reflects a modern educational philosophy that aligns with the rapid technological transformation occurring within the O&P field. The inclusion of a mechatronics lab signals a curriculum that looks to the future, preparing students to work with the next generation of bionic limbs, AI-driven control systems, and robotic components that offer more intuitive and life-like movement.

One of the most significant trends is the adoption of advanced manufacturing, particularly 3D printing. This technology allows for the rapid creation of highly customized devices that are lighter, stronger, and more precisely fitted than ever before. By leveraging 3D scanning and digital design, students can create complex prosthetic and orthotic solutions tailored to an individual's unique anatomy and lifestyle. The studio's infrastructure is built to support this digital workflow, from initial scan to final product.

This focus on technology is coupled with an unwavering commitment to patient-centered design. By working directly with patients throughout the entire process, students learn to approach their work holistically, considering not just the technical specifications of a device but the user's personal goals, comfort, and overall quality of life.

A Legacy Beyond the Games

The facility's regional and international significance is set to be spotlighted during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. Organizers have designated the Maker Studio to serve as a vital hub for prosthetics repair and service, supporting athletes, international visitors, and community members who rely on mobility devices.

During past Paralympic Games, the need for such technical support has been immense. At the Paris 2024 Games, for instance, the official technical service provider conducted approximately 2,700 repairs on everything from running blades and prosthetic sockets to competition wheelchairs. The CSUDH facility, with its advanced fabrication capabilities and strategic location, is perfectly positioned to provide this essential, high-stakes service, ensuring athletes can perform at their peak without fear of equipment failure.

This high-profile role will establish a lasting legacy for the center and the region, cementing its status as a world-class resource for adaptive sports and accessible healthcare long after the Games conclude.

This project's completion is a milestone for BNBuilders, a firm that specializes in complex healthcare and educational projects and whose corporate ethos is rooted in community impact. "What makes this project special is what happens inside the building every day," said BNBuilders Project Executive Alfonso Saenz. "It reflects our commitment to building spaces that serve people in meaningful ways. Students aren't just learning in a classroom, they're working directly with patients and creating devices that help people move, recover, and live more independently."

With its unique fusion of education, advanced fabrication, and direct patient care, the CSUDH Orthotics & Prosthetics Maker Studio is not just constructing devices; it is building a more mobile and independent future for countless individuals across Southern California.