The HealthTech Arkansas team has been privileged to work alongside the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (OEI) and College of Engineering on OEI's, Walton Family Foundation-funded Northwest Arkansas Biodesign Sprints program (NABS). This program exists to help health systems in the Northwest Arkansas region identify and create innovative solutions to their challenges. HTA and the University of Arkansas are currently partnered with four healthcare systems in the NWA region for the program, including the Arkansas Children's Hospital system.
On November 11th, the NABS program kicked off a medical device hackathon in Bentonville at the U of A Collaborative! This high-energy event was centered around challenges that were identified by clinicians at Arkansas Children's Hospital that lend themselves to new medical device solutions. Students from across different majors teamed up to problem-solve and work towards solution development for those challenges while receiving clinical guidance and mentoring from Arkansas Children's providers.
The student teams received first, second, and third-place prizes of $1000, $500, and $250 for their exceptional work at the event! This was a fantastic way to round out such an exciting and impactful weekend.
Altogether, the HTA team was blown away by the collaboration and creative ideas generated by everyone at the event. The student teams tackled major healthcare challenges with enthusiasm and out-of-the-box thinking and the Arkansas Children's employees demonstrated their commitment to continually trying to improve patient care through their participation. We cannot thank the Arkansas Children’s clinicians and administrators and the U of A students enough for their participation in this event. Additionally, we want to thank the staff at the U of A Collaborative for their hospitality. Finally, we want to thank the Walton Family Foundation for supporting healthcare innovation and the University of Arkansas' Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the College of Engineering for being our partners in this program. We are excited about what is to come from the NABS program.
Photo courtesy of University of Arkansas Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (OEI).