Congratulations to all teams on making great strides towards solutions to each of these challenge prompts! Included below are the links to the final presentations and open source documentation of each team completed during the hackathon weekend. All projects are licensed under CC BY 4.0 In the spirit of our open-source mission, we encourage the maker community to take these ideas forward while providing proper attribution to the teams.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated a clear and present need for a complete, free-libre open-source, easily repairable, widely usable, safe and effective respiratory support medical device ecosystem. Our partners at Public Invention have the goal to fill this need through the Freespireco project, striving to empower makers around the world with the designs, instructions, and regulatory documentation to construct these life-saving devices.
Through participation in this hackathon, teams will be provided with the opportunity, mentorship, and platform to make meaningful contributions to this goal.
This event is a spinoff of the RespiraCon II Conference hosted by Public Invention. Registration to this conference is not required for participation in the hackathon, but is a great opportunity to learn more about respiratory care technologies.
The virtual hackathon will begin Friday at 6pm CST with a keynote speech by Dr. Roger Rassool. Following the address, event coordinators will present an overview of the next two days, and teams will have the opportunity to engage in a Q&A. Saturday and Sunday will consist of hacking time for the teams and scheduled check-ins with mentors and coaches. On Sunday, teams will also be provided with resources and support in making their solutions open source. At 3pm CST on Sunday, projects will conclude as teams begin engaging in 5 minute presentations and 5 minutes of Q&A with the judging panel. Judging comments, awards, and other recognitions will be released at 6pm Sunday.
Roger Rassool is a co-founder and CEO of FREO2. He has a PhD in Nuclear Physics, which he obtained in collaboration between the University of Melbourne and Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. Throughout his career, Roger has managed large and diverse programs for the University of Melbourne, CERN (Geneva) and Industry. He is an inventor and extremely passionate about industry engagement. Roger has extensive experience in the application of physics to industrial problems and has been the driving force in establishing two startup companies that have provided employment pathways for graduate students. Roger has a strong personal commitment to equitable access to health/education and is working in many remote communities and schools delivering education programs, in Arnhem Land (Au), Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda his country of birth.
Prior to the event, teams will be asked to select their prompt from a curated list of challenges or bring their own prompt from prior research. Many of the prompts provided to the teams will provide the opportunity for interdisciplinary work across a wide range of technical fields. Examples of these collaborative prompts can be found below, with a full list being sent to teams 1 week prior to the hackathon.
View the list of curated prompts HERE!
This is a virtual event. Teams will work together throughout the two-day event using tools such as Zoom, Google Drive, and/or Slack.
The virtual hackathon will take place from Friday, Feb 4th through Sunday, Feb 6th. More information about the schedule will be posted soon.
The hackathon is a 48-hour sprint beginning on Friday afternoon (2/4) and ending on Sunday afternoon (2/6). Since the goal is to rapidly bring meaningful solutions to life, participants should expect to commit Friday evening, most of Saturday, and Sunday morning/early afternoon to the Challenge. Participants do not need to be available 24/7 for the duration of the event but should communicate their availability to team members.
Welcome to a new type of hackathon! While most rely on competition for the generation of new ideas, the RespiraCon II Hackathon takes a more collaborative format. Rather than hiding ideas in hopes of beating out competition for a cash prize, it is our hope that teams will share expertise and feedback in hopes of creating the best solutions possible to very real global health challenges. While there are no explicit winners, teams will receive digital exposure for their work, expert feedback from judges, and specific recognition for the strengths of their work.
A long list of challenge prompts has been sourced from experts in the field of respiratory tech. This list will be shared with accepted teams on Saturday, January 30th for teams to select their prompt. As the nature of this event is non-competitive, teams can choose the same or different prompts. In the week prior to the event, teams are welcome to research their choice or do prep-work, but this is by no means a requirement.
If your team would like to bring your own prompt to work on, please specify this in your application and detail the progress your team has already made. This will allow our judges to appropriately provide feedback on the progress made during the hackathon itself.
In line with the mission of Public Invention and the goal of creating an open-source ecosystem of respiratory devices, all teams will gain experience in making their solutions open-source through this event.
We are seeking teams of all academic and personal backgrounds! The only requirement for participation is being an undergraduate student passionate and committed to achieving impact.
No! Technical or clinical experience is always helpful, but it is not required. When forming your team, it may be helpful to include members with these skillsets if choosing a more technical prompt.
Yes! Teams of undergraduate students from all universities are welcome! Note that the agenda of events will be set in CST, but our coordinator team is committed to removing barriers for participation globally. If your team feels that time zone differences may be an issue, please specify this in your application and our team will work to accommodate you!
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and our team will try its best to respond to applications within a week of receiving them.
Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for the first 12 teams to apply. However, emphasis will also be placed on ensuring representation from many universities, thus if multiple teams from the same university apply, the first may may be accepted while others may be waitlisted until we guarantee a spot is available. You will receive an email from Rice BMES with an update regarding your decision.
Teams will be expected to utilize their home university’s resources to design and develop their solutions. During the weekend, the hackathon will connect teams with mentors experienced in design and/or global health technologies to guide them through designing and open-sourcing their work.