The final stage of work on the technological solutions that Warsaw University of Technology doctoral students came up with has passed! A prize of PLN 120,000 for further idea development was awarded to a project using simple tools and gamification to help with respiratory therapy, created by the pd meds team.

The public presentation of the demonstrators prepared by the finalists of Tech-Athon 2023 took place on 11 June 2024 at the Centre for Advanced Materials and Technologies CEZAMAT of the Warsaw University of Technology. Tech-Athon is an event during teams, consisting of PhD students from the Warsaw University of Technology and invited guests, develop concepts for innovative technological solutions with implementation potential, then consult their ideas with mentors and present them in the form of pitching in front of a competition jury during the finals.

The finalists, with funding from the ‘Excellence Initiative – Research University’ programme, carry out research and development work on these projects in order to present the demonstrator to the public at the DemoDay event the following year.

One of the five!

Five concepts were presented during DemoDay: the design of a myoelectric prosthetic hand that can ‘grow’ with the child (3D Hand team), a solution to shorten the rehabilitation period after a limb fracture through the use of printed electrostimulation layers (PulseLayers team), the design of a novel system for e-fuel synthesis (Hydrogenius team), a tool to support cancer treatment through personalised CAR-T therapy (QPI4MED team) and a project using simple tools and gamification to aid respiratory therapy (pd meds team).

 

 

Each team had 10 minutes to present their project and then the jury asked questions of the participants. Presentations were assessed for innovation, implementation potential, quality of diagnosis and problem definition, and interdisciplinarity.

The jury, composed of Prof. Mariusz Malinowski, Vice-Chancellor for Science (chairman of the jury), Prof. Zbigniew Brzózka, Elżbieta Malinowska, Prof. Bartłomiej Ufnalski, decided to award the pd meds team.

– This is a great accolade, especially in view of such interesting projects presented by other teams – said Krzysztof Zawalski from pd meds. – Such moments are pleasing and motivate us to continue working. I hope that with the funds we have won we will be able to get closer to achieving our goals and that our product will support respiratory training in the near future.

 

Members of the pd meds team are Piotr Falkowski (team leader, PhD student at the Warsaw University of Technology affiliated with the Department of Mechanical Power and Aeronautics, chief specialist in rehabilitation robotics at the Łukasiewicz-PIAP institute), Maciej Pikuliński (PhD student at the Warsaw University of Technology affiliated with the Faculty of Power and Aeronautics Mechanical Engineering, responsible for information technology in the project), Anna Pastor (a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Wrocław University of Technology and the SPWS University, in the project as a specialist in marketing and communication), Bazyli Leczkowski (a student of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Energetics and Aeronautics, responsible for the development of mechanics in the project), Krzysztof Zawalski (a student of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Energetics and Aeronautics, an employee of the Łukasiewicz-PIAP institute, responsible for the development of electronics in the project).

 

Train your breathing!

The team is supported by medical specialists and business coaches, leading to a product launch next year. A stable demonstrator has now been developed and it will be tested in medical facilities. BreathX, as the system is called, is a simple device that measures breaths and an app on the phone that automates the exercises and reminds the user to repeat the therapy regularly. The advantages of the system are simple design, multifunctionality and the low final price of the product. As assured by members of the pd meds team, the device will be easy to use, patient-friendly and the exercise itself will not be boring thanks to game elements and visualisation. The system is intended to help people with a variety of psychological problems, especially those caused by stress, respiratory insufficiency and speech defects.

 

 

– I am very pleased that the needs of respiratory training support are recognised and appreciated, as they were at this wonderful event – said Piotr Falkowski from pd meds. – ‘Without food we can survive for over a month, without drink for a few days and without breathing for a few minutes. Despite this, so far it has been common for us to take care of healthy eating and hydration, while there has been little information about healthy breathing in the public space. It is hoped that with the implementation of BreathX, this will change significantly and anyone who feels the need to do so, especially through the ever-present stress, will be able to reach for their own personal breathing coach off the shelf.

 

Competition that brings business!

The Tech-Athon is a competition organised at the Warsaw University of Technology in which prizes are funded from the Excellence Initiative – Research University programme by the Scientific Boards of the four Priority Research Areas (POBs): Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering, Photonic Technologies, Energy Conversion and Storage and Cyber Security and Data Analytics.

The first edition of the competition was held in 2022 under the name MedTech-Aton and was dedicated to solutions in biotechnology and medicine. The competition is organised by three units of the Warsaw University of Technology: Centre for Advanced Materials and Technologies CEZAMAT, Centre for Innovations CINN and the Doctoral School, so that participants in the competition have access to training provided by professionals in scientific and training fields such as design thinking, business model canvas, project management or user experience (UX).

– Tech-Athon is not only an interesting form of education for doctoral students, but also an event that brings results in the form of innovative projects – said Prof. Mariusz Malinowski, Vice-Rector for Science, Warsaw University of Technology, during the award ceremony. – I think that we will hear about the teams that participated in this event many more times, and their members will be successful not only in research and science, but also in business.