Health Make-A-Thon
Illinois residents are invited to submit ideas for improving human health to the third annual Health Make-a-Thon competition. The 10 best ideas will each be supported by $10,000 in Health Maker Lab resources to create a real prototype of their idea. Submission deadline is Jan. 31, 2021. Winners will be selected at a virtual event on April 17, 2021.
It’s our more friendly and approachable version of what’s often called a “shark tank” in the world of entrepreneurship. In the dolphin tank, 20 innovative finalists will each have two minutes to pitch their great idea to improve human health—and you’ll get to cheer them on as they do.
Everyone is encouraged to attend! This is your chance to see innovation in the making—and maybe to get inspired for next year’s event. Grab your kids and your friends, and show support for Illinois’ health makers and the democratization of health innovation.
Our judges are entrepreneurs, innovators, scholars, healthcare providers, and citizen scientists from across the state of Illinois. You can meet a few here. Help fuel this high-energy event while doing your part to make a better future for healthcare.
The virtual Health Make-a-Thon event will take place on April 17, 2021.
Registration for the 2021 Make-a-Thon here!
2021 Health Make-A-Thon Finalists
A Smart Toy: Aiding Cognitive Development in Children with Autism by Gerry Derksen and Stan Ruecker
A Wire-Free, 12-Lead EKG by Kenny Leung
Artificial Intelligence Assistant for Social Workers Addressing Homelessness by Matthew De Venecia
Artificial Muscle-based Exoskeleton as a Shock-Absorbing Assistive Device by Jonghyun Hwang
CalidGear: Wearable Thermoregulation Device by Tayyaba Ali
ECG Shirt by Hanna Erickson, Manisha Reddy, and Meghna Basavaraju
FaceIt: A Wearable Medical Device to Measure and Monitor Facial Tension as a Biomarker of Related Complications and Stress by Mehreen Ali
Healing Healthcare Disparities among BIPOC Patients through Virtual Reality Cultural Competency Training by Victoria Fields, Mardia Bishop, Charee Thompson, Sarah Bencivenga
Hologram Medical Training by Mamadi Papus Keita and April Louise Keita
izzii: An App that Aids in Generalizability and Inclusion in Phase III Clinical Trials by Sneha Subramanian and Avani Patel
Music to My Ears, A Balm From Bronzeville by Malik Ali Muhammad and Ray Muhammad
Nano-Hyperbaric Delivery System for Chronic Wounds by Michael Tsipursky, Joseph Irudayaraj, Jordan Marsh, and Neelabh Sharma (Champaign County)
NutriU: A Personalized, Automated Nutrition Assistant by Emily Chen, Firmiana Wang, Sarah Guo, and Anuprova Bhowmik
OUCH: Optimizing Understanding of Critical Health by Bhavika Kagathi and Lindsay Kwok
PediPressure Monitor by Amy Minas
Preventing Acute Renal Failure after Crush Injury by Nathaniel Brooke and Ariana Barreau
ProteCKD: Earlier Detection of Chronic Kidney Disease among Underrepresented Patient Populations by Ariana Barreau, Phani Gaddipati, Andrew Chang, Isabella Lebovic, Priya Kumar, and Thomas Chow
ScreenAI: Using Image Recognition to Drive Patient-centered Dermatology by Romir Singla, Christopher George, and Sohom Dash
STEM Vocabulary App for Deaf Students by Mona Jawad, Ethan Gaughan, Aditi Adya, Ryan Martin, Ayesha Kazi, Sumayyah Hussain, Amy Lee, Elizabeth Troy, and Sri Medisetti
StickON: An Attachable Device to Prevent Severe Hormone-Related Psychiatric Disorders by Ryan He, Elan Pan, Hong Chen, Ian Pan
2020 Health Make-A-Thon Winners
PillSafe Smart Cap
Ariana Alam Mizan
MePanel
Joy Chen, Adam Dama
Ultrasonic Visual Aid
Emily Jean Smith, Natalie Ramsy, Catherine Stauffer
Projectscape
Sebastian Souryris, Aaron Brown, Nekita Thomas
Paperometer
Shonit Nair Sharma
Sepsig
Kavya Sudhir, Sanjana Chunduri, Saloni Garg, Trisha Yadav
Low-cost, Portable Non-invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation Device
Mobola Kukoyi
Single Action Needles
Dylan Peters, David Kostyra
Anemone: A Safe Space in Your Phone
Ananya Cleetus
Wheelchair Wheel Redesign
Wen KunYuan, Anna Chi, Jessica Hung
