As a robotics engineer at Carnegie Mellon University, he’s devoted his research to figuring out how hands work—and how to replicate them in machines.

It worked. Campagna, who longs to be an engineer, developed a voice-controlled robotic hand that earned him the grand champion trophy at this year's science fair.

It’s easy to forget how amazing the dexterity and anatomy of our own hands are–until you learn how difficult they are to replicate for machines. MIT has made big strides in robotic hands this ...