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UCF engineering student Tyler Petresky (right) and nurse consultant Tyler Pierce (left) outfitted Alex Pring with his new arm while his mother Alyson looked on during a July 26 news conference.

The resulting media coverage, which included features on ABC and NBC national evening news programs, didn't phase the 6-year-old, who has found new confidence in social situations according to his mother.

Incorporating new routines into the busy life of an active first-grader has been a challenge, but Alex has learned to overcome and can now don the prosthetic and attach the control sensors himself.

The prosthetic was designed to grow with Alex, thanks to the students' forward-thinking design made with 3-D-printed parts that can be easily — and inexpensively — enlarged as the boy matures. 

A huge fan of the Transformers, the once-shy Alex calls the prosthetic his "robo-arm" and is proud to show it off to curious strangers.

“It’s been quite a ride,” says his mother, Alyson. “It’s amazing how he’s adjusting to everything. And his confidence … that’s where it really shows.”