HealthTech Challenge Eastern Bavaria: Digital innovations for the healthcare sector

(No. 281) The HealthTech Challenge Eastern Bavaria took place for the first time in October. The pioneering competition was organized by BioPark Regensburg GmbH, a company of the city of Regensburg, together with the OTH Regensburg, the TH Deggendorf and the district of Upper Palatinate. The aim was to develop innovative solutions for the healthcare sector.

The HealthTech Challenge Eastern Bavaria was launched as part of the BioPark Jump funding program of the BioPark Regensburg GmbH, which supports innovative ideas for improving medical treatment, prevention and diagnostics. Healthcare facilities such as the Regensburg University Hospital, the Caritas Hospital St. Josef and the Bad Kötzting Health Campus submitted current challenges from their everyday practice to the competition. Student teams were asked to develop solutions to these challenges within three weeks. On the BioPark side, the competition was supervised by project manager Dr. Alexandra Sauter and cluster manager Dr. Ilja Hagen.

The event started with a kick-off at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, where physicians and health experts presented their challenges to the participants. The interdisciplinary teams then went into the field to look at the challenges on site and work on an initial solution approach with their mentors from the field. The highlight was the hacking weekend at the end of October in the Start-up Lab at the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule (OTH) Regensburg, where the students further developed and finalized their concepts. On Saturday afternoon, the teams presented their results to a panel of experts. A total of 3,000 euros in prize money was awarded.

The competition once again shows the enormous potential for innovation at our universities, I am always impressed by the creative and practical solutions of the student teams,’ commented Dr. Thomas Diefenthal, Managing Director of the BioPark Regensburg GmbH, about the event.

The first place (€1,500 prize money) went to a solution for the improved visualization of injuries of people involved in road traffic accidents. The challenge was set as part of the AARU research project (Audi Accident Research Unit), a former tenant of the BioPark, in cooperation with the Regensburg University Hospital and the Audi AG. The second place (€1,000 prize money) went to a digital solution to better record the health status and well-being of patients after a hospital stay, provided by the Caritas hospital St. Josef in Regensburg. The third place (€500 prize money) was awarded to an app solution that helps (expectant) parents to attend check-ups and vaccination appointments both during pregnancy and in the first years of their child's life, provided by the Hagenberg Research Centre at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria.

The innovations developed are to be followed up after the competition so that they can soon be put into practice. A continuation of the innovation competition is planned for 2025.

The participants of the HealthTech Challenge 2024 - students from the University of Regensburg, the OTH Regensburg, the OTH Amberg-Weiden and the Deggendorf Institute of Technology. Copyright BioPark Regensburg GmbH - Photo: Dominik Hupf

From left to right: Project Manager BioPark Jump Dr. Alexandra Sauter, BioPark Cluster Manager Dr. Ilja Hagen, AARU Project Manager Dr. Stefanie Weber, the winning team Corinna Kronberg, Amir Amuri, Enya Wenzl, Philipp Kolligs, Hamed Aboltakhty, Copyright BioPark Regensburg GmbH - Photo: Dr. Thomas Diefenthal

The second-placed team - from left to right Hazel D’couto, Nisha Gautam, Hasith Ratnayake, Copyright BioPark Regensburg GmbH - Photo: Dominik Hupf

The third-placed team - from left to right Manuel Eichinger, Emanuel Breitenstein, Marie Gräbedünkel, Copyright BioPark Regensburg GmbH - Photo: Dominik Hupf

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