About the Innovation Challenge
On May 18-19 2018, the first annual UChicago Health Tech Innovation Challenge was hosted at the Polsky Center. Students from the Pritzker School of Medicine, Booth School of Business and Department of CS came together to build health tech that supports our community. With the opening of the UChicago Medicine Trauma Center in 2018, last year’s event focused on building tech that supports the center’s mission of addressing trauma on the South Side of Chicago from prevention all the way to recovery. ​

​This year, the UChicago Healthcare Innovation Challenge will take place at the Polsky Center on May 3-4. Teams will have the opportunity to take their idea from concept to creation, working with UChicago Medicine IT to modernize how the healthcare system interacts with patients. *Specific details will be announced in the coming weeks.*

Innovation Challenge 2018 Wrap-up
The teams at the event included medical students, business students, policy students, software developers and data scientists. They worked incredibly hard to come up with creative ideas with a strong social mission.

• Check out the teams' projects here.
• Check out an article about the challenge (with pictures) here.

 Apply for the 2019 Innovation Challenge (May 2019)

Register Now

The Innovation Challenge will take place at:
​ Polsky Center North, 1452 E 53rd St, Chicago IL 60615

Tentative Schedule

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​Friday, May 3, 2019
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• 4:45pm-5:00pm: Registration 
• 5:00pm-5:30pm: Networking 
• 5:30pm-6:00pm: Dinner w/ Keynote 
• 6:00pm-6:10pm: Introduce Case 
• 6:10pm-6:30pm: Sponsor talks 
• 6:30pm-10pm: Kickoff team work 

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Saturday, May 4, 2019
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• 7am: Coffee + Polsky open for you to start working with your team
• 8:30am-9am: Breakfast set up
• 9am-11am: Work with team
• 11am - 12:30pm: Ping #1 (team member reports on progress, needs and goals to mentors) and continues to work on project
• 12:30pm-1pm: Lunch
• 1pm-3:30pm: Ping #2 (optional practice pitch to mentors) and finalize pitch
• 3:30pm-4pm: Break and time to get to Promontory Room
• 4:00pm-6:00pm: Pitch to judges (3min pitch, 2min Q&A)
• 6pm-7pm: Awards, dinner, and closing ceremony 

Innovation Challenge Objectives

Specific objectives will be announced in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

FAQ

How much does it cost?
There will be a $5 registration fee. All meals and coffee will be provided. 
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Do I need to know how to code?
Knowing how to code is not a prerequisite for this competition as we're purposefully pairing CS students with business, medical, public policy, and law students. However, coding skills will be incredibly valuable and we are always looking for more coders to participate. 

What will teams look like?
Participants may register individually or as a team. Our goal is to help students across Booth, Pritzker, Harris, the Department of CS, and UChicago Law school form lasting relationships around a common interest in health tech. Since healthcare delivery is interdisciplinary (as well as our judging panel), teams with members from different backgrounds will have an advantage. 

How big is this event?
This first health tech innovation challenge at UChicago was relatively small with about 40 participants. This year, we expect more participants but no greater than 75 participants in total. The relatively small size means you'll get a chance to really connect with other participants, and with mentors across medicine, business, tech and design.

How will demos, judging and prizes work? 
The point of the competition is to have fun and to build a project with meaning, so don't stress about this part! Everyone will want to hear what your team worked on though, so pitches are an important part of the competition. Pitches will include a demo of your prototype if it's ready and a short presentation about the idea's potential impact, creativity and feasibility (we'll provide a template). Winning teams will receive visa gift cards and the opportunity to partner with UChicago Medicine and bring their ideas to life.  *Prize amounts will be announced in the coming weeks.* After the pitches, there will be time to relax/celebrate over food and drinks. We'll also have representatives from a few awesome Chicago-based health tech companies there in case you'd like to keep exploring your interest in health tech.

What if I have another question?
We're here to help! Email Colin at Colin.Wang@uchospitals.edu.

Sponsors

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Email Kendall at Kendall.Elue@uchospitals.edu.