The 2024 UU Digital Healthcare Hackathon, a two-day event held at the Industry-Academic Cooperation Center at UNIST from November 22 to 23, aimed to cultivate startup concepts that improve the quality of life through digital medical technologies.
This competition was built around the concept of uniting aspiring medical practitioners and engineers in a quest for innovative breakthroughs. A total of 52 students from UNIST and the University of Ulsan College of Medicine (UUCM) participated in this enriching endeavor, investing two days to bring their visionary ideas to life.
Participants presented visionary ideas that utilized cutting-edge digital technologies, including AI, big data, and wearable devices. l Image Credit: Graduate School of Health Science and Technology, UNIST
This year saw a significant increase in diversity, with concepts expanding beyond the established UU-HST (Health Sciences and Technologies) Program to encompass all students with an inquisitive disposition. The HST program, a collaborative initiative by UNIST and UUCM, fosters interdisciplinary education to nurture skilled professionals in medical technology.
As the participant pool grew, discourse surrounding presentation subjects and achievements flourished, with ideas encapsulating a range of innovative startup concepts designed to revolutionize the medical domain through cutting-edge digital technologies, including AI, big data analytics, and wearable devices.
Some notable concepts included an application for acute schizophrenia diagnosis developed using a sophisticated large language model (LLM), alongside an image AI-driven system for monitoring skin disease treatment progression. Additional innovative products included a non-invasive electric brain stimulation apparatus in the form of a helmet and devices engineered for appetite control.
The Grand Prize went to Team U3 for their visionary concept of an infrared-based non-invasive blood glucose meter. l Image Credit: Graduate School of Health Science and Technology, UNIST
The Grand Prize was bestowed upon Team U3 for their visionary concept of an infrared-based non-invasive blood glucose meter. Excellence Prize was also given to exemplary teams named ACNE, Pikachu Therapy, USA Express, and USB. The winning teams have been offered exclusive training sessions in upcoming January, including a program hosted at UCLA, to nurture their entrepreneurial spirit.
Excellence Prize was also given to exemplary teams named ACNE, Pikachu Therapy, USA Express, and USB. l Image Credit: Graduate School of Health Science and Technology, UNIST
“It is my strong hope that this event has served as a catalyst for igniting public enthusiasm in digital healthcare,” said Professor Kyemyung Park of Graduate School of Health Science and Technology at UNIST. Director Youngsik Kim of University Industry Relations at UNIST, also committed to nurturing exceptional ideas into thriving startups.
“I am impressed by the students’ enthusiastic participation and presentations,” said Vice Dean Jaeyong Kim of UUCM, wishing future competitions success.
This competition was led by UNIST Graduate School of Health Science and Technology, UNIST Smart Healthcare Research Center, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), LG Uplus Corp., officials from DGIST, University of Illinois (UIUC) College of Medicine in the United States, and others.
