Most people have heard of a hackathon, but the Rothberg Catalyzer at Penn is a makerthon. Instead of the classic hackathon focus on software development, a makerthon is where students compete to build innovative hardware solutions for healthcare problems.
The makerthon portion of the Rothberg Catalyzer at Penn is an immersive two-day event to encourage interdisciplinary student teams to develop a simple prototyping project. Groups come together to address an unmet clinical need by prototyping a hardware solution. At the end of the weekend, projects are presented to a panel of judges and awards are presented.
About the Catalyzer
The Rothberg Catalyzer at Penn is a two-month program that introduces Penn students to healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship. The program is comprised of three educational Design Studios, which teach essential elements of design thinking, prototyping, and pitching, as well as a makerthon weekend where students design and pitch hardware prototypes to address an unmet clinical need. This is a classic makerthon, encouraging students to develop healthcare related hardware projects. Though the hardware component is mandatory, teams have the option to include a software component with their submission.
Applications are due September 20, 2019. Only completed applications that are submitted by 11:59pm will be considered. Applications are considered complete when all required questions have been answered and submitted. Only one individual should submit an application on behalf of the team. Only individuals currently enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania are eligible to participate. If you are an individual looking to join a team, access the Rothberg Catalyzer at Penn Slack channel to find other individuals looking for teams before submitting an application.
Penn HealthTech will review each application. We will contact teams that have been selected to participate via email. We encourage teams to have interdisciplinary backgrounds. Please refer to the Rules and FAQs document on www.catalyzeratpenn.com for full details.
If you have any questions about the application or event, please reach out to the htec@seas.upenn.edu.