Students, academics and businesses came together at the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator (WMHTIA) HealthTech Hackathon , hosted in STEAMhouse, to tackle digital healthcare’s toughest challenges.
The event took place over three days from Monday 3 to Wednesday 5 November, and saw students, academics, and HealthTech SMEs collaborate to brainstorm, develop and pitch new and innovative solutions.
The Hackathon was part of the £19 million WMCA funded West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator project, aimed at accelerating innovation and industrial growth in the West Midlands HealthTech sector.
Nine HealthTech companies featured at the event, including Prorizon Ltd, Health Data Avatar, and Digital Planning. Students, researchers and companies worked on a diverse range of projects from a clinical trial recruitment platform to a 3D hair graft analysis algorithm. To develop their solutions, students had access to cutting edge cloud computing resources and the latest GenAI models, provided by partner Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Following the event, companies have expressed interest in continuing collaboration with students and researchers.
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Hosting and participating in the Hackathon provided a great platform to showcase BCU’s commitment to innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration, in line with the BCU 2030 vision.
Course Lead in Software Engineering Dr. Samer Bamansoor commented: “Events like the Hackathon play a vital role in preparing our students for the workplace. By collaborating with industry professionals on real-world challenges, they develop not only their technical skills but also the teamwork, problem-solving and communication abilities that employers value most. This is a perfect example of how we embed employability and industry engagement into our teaching at BCU.”
Chief Science Officer at Digital Planning Ben Hutchings said: “Events like this show how valuable collaboration can be, not just for healthcare, but for any complex, regulated sector. Being involved gives us new perspectives and keeps our work moving forward in the right direction.”