Hilton Bennett is a member of IHEP’s Higher Education in Prison (HEP) Advisory Council, a select group of HEP practitioners, researchers, and advocates committed to developing a common set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess the quality and impact of postsecondary education in prison, promote robust standards of practice, and improve student outcomes.

Hilton is a Mechanical Engineering Graduate pursuing a Master’s Degree in Product Innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University. He interns for a Biomedical Engineering firm designing orthopedic implants. Hilton has a passion for product development and rapid prototyping. In this past year alone VCU has filed 4 patents for technology on which Hilton was primary engineer; these patents include a device that makes the epidural space visible to anesthesiologists and a device that effectively treats the second leading cause of preventable deaths in the Military (pneumothorax – collapsed lung).

He is also a rock-climber and started his first company in 2016 designing Traditional Climbing Gear for indoor use. He plans to start a PhD in Mechanical Engineering & Medicine at the beginning of the new year focusing on devices to improve patient care and surgical procedures. Hilton believes his relationship with God, drive, and ability to manage time, provide a structure that allows him to excel in the design/innovation/start-up space, while pursuing his educational goals.