OTHER HACKATHON GOALS AND PROSPECTS

“Hackathons are a fantastic environment for networking between academia and industry, and a real opportunity for students and young professionals to showcase their skills,” writes participant Brent Godau, a graduate student in mechanical engineering at UVic. Three of the challenges are fertile ground for future efforts between UVic researchers, community members, industry and health authorities:

CREATE AN ALERT SYSTEM

for health-care providers caring for people living with dementia that doesn’t require physical restraints. “There is no current product that can be secured to a chair or patient that does not agitate the patient. Could the group develop a chair alarm that does not alarm the patient but alerts the caregiver?”

ADAPT A HAND/ARM PROSTHESIS FOR CYCLING

One of the first questions that amputees in developing countries ask when they are being fitted with a UVic-based Victoria Hand Project prosthesis is if they can use it to ride a bike. The Hand Project team wants to address the need for a device that will allow users to safely ride a bike.

DEVELOP A TWO-PART WARNING SYSTEM

for hospitalized patients at risk of falling out of bed. Island Health notes that most systems available are intended to minimize injury, not prevent the fall in the first place. “Having identified a patient at imminent risk of a fall, a solution needs to take an action that can prevent a fall.”