Recently BioENGINE hosted its third annual Device Design Symposium at the Cove @ UCI, an event that highlights UCI senior’s design projects from the program’s year-long biomedical device design course at UCI.
Twenty-six senior design teams showcased their working prototypes during 90-second elevator pitches to a large audience of industry leaders, UCI faculty and colleagues. A total of seven teams received recognition and cash prizes within two different categories, the BioENGINE Summer Fellowship and the Design Award.
The BioENGINE Fellowship is awarded to promising teams that are interested in continuing their senior design projects over the summer. To receive the Fellowship Award, teams are judged on their product’s ability to address an unmet need, have a competitive advantage over existing products, a go-to-market strategy, and the team’s level of commitment to the project, among other criteria. The following two teams received the Fellowship Award, and $15,000:
- BubTech: using a medical device to deliver oxygen to heal wounds
- OnSite: developing a rapid blood test to help first responders diagnose stroke. This test will reduce the time the patient has to wait for treatment to begin, ultimately reducing disability and recovery costs
By receiving the Fellowship Award, the teams are automatically enrolled into the Wayfinder program, UCI Applied Innovation’s venture development program for UCI-affiliated startups.
To receive the Design award, student teams are judged on their work and dedication throughout the year as well as their products technical development. The following teams received recognition and $1,000 cash prize:
- Artifacts: a medical device company that is designing a personalized concussion detector for athletes competing in high-impact sports that utilizes an accelerometer and heart rate variability
- Maker Therapy: Mobile: uses educational entertainment technology to enrich the lives of hospital inpatients
- Spiro: a game-based device to increase patient adherence to respiratory therapy
- STEMpoint: provides an intracranial access probe that monitors temperature at different depths and fluid extraction alongside brain cooling technology for cerebral tissue preservation during hypothermia
- Syroto Biosystems: fast track and scale up pharmaceutical testing protocols with accurate and versatile dispensing to meet research needs
BioENGINE brings together diverse resources at UCI and industry leaders to collectively define and develop real-world near-term solutions to high-tech and medtech challenges through rigorous coursework and interdisciplinary, team-based experiential learning.