CRITICAL TIMES ARE TIMES WHERE INNOVATION IS OF THE ESSENCE.
We noticed that at the beginning of the pandemic students were restless because of and saddened by watching this crisis happen while locked away in their “Kot”. We felt that they wanted to help and we decided to give them a voice “ Let’s fight together VS COVID-19!”
During the weekend of 3-6 April 2020: Junior Orsi hosted a VIRTUAL HACKATHON.
Teams of max 5 students were given 3 days to come up with an innovative concept that would help get us through this crisis.
The topic was COVID-19, but they didn’t have to narrow their ideas to medical technology. There were real problems that need to be tackled in different sectors. The goals was that their idea would MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
The purpose of a Junior Orsi hackathon is to work together in a MULTIDISCIPLINARY team of medical students, (biomedical) engineers, computer scientists and so on. The teams had to be diverse.
During this online event, we welcomed several guest speakers who gave lectures concerning COVID-19: businessmen, innovators, emergency doctors, international virologists and anesthesiologists. These lectures provided new insights and perspectives on the topic. We also provided amazing support for the teams during their race: Alexander Alonso of BD, Bart Collet of Hyperadvancer and Prof. Crijns of Vlerick Business School
At the end of the race a top three was elected by a panel of experts. We were amazed by the creative and ingenious ideas of all teams.