PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Whether it's biking, lifting weights, climbing a rock wall or rowing, Jonathan Kuniholm can do it all with ease using the prosthetic arm he developed.

"I'll throw it on to do handyman stuff around the house or fold laundry. I might wear it to a dinner so I can cut my steak," he said. "It just means there are fewer activities I might avoid."

In August 2004, the Marine Corps veteran was deployed to Iraq. Five months later everything changed.

"On New Year's Day 2005, I was on a foot patrol on the Euphrates River and we were ambushed by an IED (improvised explosive device) that killed Lance Cpl. Brian Parrello and injured me," he said. "Had my arm amputated and then I began my recovery."

Kuniholm was in and out of the hospital and soon realized the prosthetics that were available were heavy and uncomfortable, especially at the socket. So he put his engineering degree to work. He founded Stumpworx and designed the prosthetic arm that is made from advanced athletic shoe technology.

"It's 3D printed nylon, what's called the frame, the hard part of it," he told KOIN 6 News. "Then this is all textiles and the same kind of materials used that are in the running shoes you go for a run with."

That material, he said, is far superior to the prosthetic arms currently used, which can cause a lot of sweat.

"Basically any activity when you push and pull on the arm, that's active when you might sweat because that's the real limitation of the hard, carbon fiber arms. It's like wearing plastic."

Recently Kuniholm won $15,000 for Stumpworx at a special pitch competition hosted by the Disabled American Veterans.

Stumpwork is currently involved in a research project hoping to fit 30 patients in the coming years. And he's hoping maybe Portland's athletic shoe industry will want to get involved.

"If any of the shoe companies are interested in partnering on mass customized production and looking at doing something like what we're doing," he said, "I'd love to talk to them."