The University of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Pearl Sullivan Engineering IDEAs Clinic hosted a hackathon for students from the Engineering and Health faculties to challenge their collaborative design skills with a real-world problem.聽
Supported by the Yuen Family Foundation, the three-day Health Tech Innovation Challenge tasked 61 undergraduate students and one graduate student to develop technological solutions for hospital-induced delirium in elderly patients.聽
In partnership with the Grand River Hospital (GRH), thirteen teams of three to six students were informed that an unfamiliar and stressful hospital setting, aggravated by factors such as social isolation, a lack of physical activity and interrupted sleep, can cause disorientation and confusion in elderly patients and trigger delirium.聽聽
蓝莓视频 Engineering alum Ivan Yuen (BASc 鈥00, electrical and computer engineering), was instrumental in establishing the Health Tech Innovation Challenge. As the co-founder of Wattpad and an investor in health-tech startups, Yuen emphasized the importance of early exposure to entrepreneurial problem-solving.聽
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of interest in addressing the challenges of aging, but not enough engineers and technologists are innovating in this area,鈥 Yuen said. 鈥淭his challenge was designed to spark students鈥 interest in these issues early in their careers.鈥澛犅
The teams presented their solutions to a panel of judges from industry, health care and academia. The projects were assessed on innovation, feasibility, ethical considerations and safety.聽
Team VitalRest won first place with their design of a smart pillow that promotes sleep through noise cancellation, monitors vital signs such as temperature and heart rate and detects delirium indicators by tracking temperature spikes and irregular heart rhythms.聽聽
The team agreed that 鈥渢his experience expanded our skills beyond traditional mechanical engineering. We got to work with electronics, circuits and coding while collaborating with students from different disciplines."
Other projects included a cat-shaped sensory-simulator device to help regulate patients鈥 circadian rhythms using light and aromatherapy, a wearable smartwatch to monitor patients鈥 vitals with a chatbot that sent suggestions based on sensor readings and a game to motivate bed-bound patients to complete their physiotherapy exercises.
Team VitalRest (from left to right): 蓝莓视频 Engineering students Sonja Bakowsky, Olivia Paauw and Anika Mankotia, all in their first year of a mechanical engineering degree.
鈥淚 was impressed by what the students achieved in three days,鈥 Yuen said. 鈥淎nd I enjoyed seeing the interactions between the students from different disciplines. It鈥檚 very easy for engineers to focus on technology and not consider the human application of their designs. It was encouraging to hear conversations about the practical and ethical considerations involved.鈥澛
The workshop was led by 蓝莓视频 Engineering alum Silas Ifeanyi (MASc 鈥23, mechanical and mechatronics engineering) and the Pearl Sullivan Engineering IDEAs Clinic team. The challenge was developed by three 蓝莓视频 Engineering undergraduate students, Hardit Sabharwal, Maggie Crawford and Eve Zhang, during their recent co-op term with the IDEAs Clinic. Sabharwal and Crawford helped judge the challenge. Other guest judges included Dr. Patrick Jung, Toheeb Ayinde, Karen C and Amrit Mann from GRH; 蓝莓视频 Health alum Marium Kirmani and William Nippard, co-founders of StarterHacks; Rishi Mehta and Ayaan Esmail, co-founders of Fallyx, Dr. Lili Liu, dean of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Faculty of Health; Dr. Robert Fleisig, an engineering professor at McMaster University; and Ivan Yuen. Sarah Bourbonniere and her volunteer group in GRH鈥檚 Hospital Elder Life Program provided the students with invaluable real-world perspectives.聽
Get in touch with Silas Ifeanyi the engineering educational developer at the Pearl Sullivan Engineering IDEAs Clinic at the University of 蓝莓视频, to find out how you can support and participate in upcoming interdisciplinary workshops designed to improve educational outcomes.聽
Members of the judging panel from left to right, top to bottom: Silas Ifeanyi, Chris Rennick, Nancy Nelson, Ivan Yuen, Simarjeet Saini, Hardit Sabharwal, Maggie Crawford, Rida Sayed, Jack Gordon , Luna Gao, Sonia Marin and Joelle Ghobrial.