Teams Compete at the Third Annual Johns Hopkins Healthcare Design Competition

The 2019 Johns Hopkins Healthcare Design Competition attracted over 125 participants, who represented 19 institutions and 5 different countries, to Homewood Campus on April 14^th. This year, more than 130 teams from all over the globe submitted their project proposal to one of the three tracks: Advanced Health Systems, Global Health/Humanitarian Design, and Health App/Information Technology. When asked why join the design competition, members of SecURO, the team that won first prize in the Advanced Health Systems track replied, “Johns Hopkins is a top place for Biomedical Engineering, so we know that the teams here are going to be very competitive and the feedback is going to be very valuable.”

Out of all the submissions, 31 teams were invited to present their project designs and business plans in front of accomplished judges from various medical fields. The teams were judged on different criteria, such problem description, pathway to implementation and likelihood of achieving significant impact. The competition was at an all-time high that an additional “Future Innovators” award was created and given to D²NK, the youngest finalist team of high school and middle school entrepreneurs. The winners of this year’s competition collectively received more than $27,000 in prize money.

Youseph Yazdi, Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Bioengineering Innovation & Design (CBID) and faculty in Biomedical Engineering, provided valuable insight on the importance of the event. He said, “This design competition is all about encouraging students and clinicians to work together to design effective solutions to health care problems. The momentum in the third year is wonderful, with the quality of the projects and presentations, and representation from US and international universities growing. We’re especially thankful to Boston Scientific for providing another gift that funded all of the awards to the student teams. Shows real commitment to nurturing the future of healthcare.”

The winning teams of each track are:

Advanced Health Systems

First Place:

SecURO—device that stiches the bladder and urethra together during prostatectomy

Georgia Institute of Technology

Second Place:

Tiny Stitch—micro suturing device that can be used during fetoscopic surgery

Rice University

Third Place:

CortiTech—device that reduces the likelihood of injury during brain surgery

Johns Hopkins University

Future Innovators:

D²NK—above the waist obstacle detector for those suffering visual impairment

Somers High School

Global Health/Humanitarian Design

First Place:

ForSight Innovation—device that reduces the invasiveness of cataract surgery

Johns Hopkins University

Second Place:

Colostomates—affordable and reusable ostomy pouches for low resource areas

Rice University

Third Place:

Eyedea Medical—product that reduces the burden of corneal blindness

Johns Hopkins University

Health App/Information Technology:

First Place:

Fitalyst—mobile application that cultivates healthy behaviors

University of Pennsylvania

Second Place:

Team SIPO—device and mobile application that monitors sitting posture

Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology

Third Place:

R6 Industries—platform that improves communication in disaster situations

Medical College of Georgia

For more information contact:

Aditya Polsani, Director Business Development

Email: [email protected]