Last weekend, EWH’s UC San Diego Chapter held their second annual HealthHack, hosting 110 students from various engineering and science backgrounds. The goal: create a design or prototype to solve a serious global health problem.

Hackathons provide time and space for people to focus on neglected issues or try new approaches to old problems. Groups with diverse backgrounds fuel creativity as participants are challenged to explore issues from different angles.

Last year, the UCSD group won EWH Chapter of the Year for their efforts to create an interdisciplinary setting and inspire innovation by bringing together students, faculty, and professionals.

This year, the focus was on mental health, as teams were asked to “diagnose, limit, prevent, or treat a mental condition and its associated problems... specifically in a low-resource setting.” Neel Parekh, president of the project team for the UCSD Chapter, explained, “The simple answer is that mental health solutions are just not represented well in the engineering community.” Parekh realized engineering had a lot to offer in the mental health field.

During the 27 hour competition, participants had Arduinos and access to the MAE Design Studio at their disposal, in addition to workshops on 3D Printing and Hardware. Teams addressed a wide variety of mental health conditions, including:

• Hidden watch for anxiety and epilepsy
• Wearable headband to aid narcolepsy patients
• Mobile game for individuals affected by autism spectrum disorder
• Whole cell biosensor for a holistic approach to depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety and ADHD
• Mobile app that tracks diet and physical health to improve awareness and self-diagnosis of depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive and bipolar disorders
• Aid for refugees suffering from PTSD
• Application of radio frequency to provide diagnostic information for PTSD patients
• Aid for the chronically homeless affected by mental and behavioral disorders
• Game for young adults suffering from depression

As for the future of HealthHack competition, Parekh said to the Jacobs School of Engineering, “I just want the idea that engineers can contribute to global health to continue to prosper.”

Congratulations to the UCSD Chapter on another successful HealthHack!

Read more about EWH’s UCSD Chapter’s HealthHack and find out who won!