2020 Bench to Bedside Participants Announced
September 18, 2020
Courtesy of University of Utah Academics & Research
Postponed from its original in-person event last April, the annual medical innovation challenge has moved entirely online this year.
Tuesday September 8, 2020 | Salt Lake City, UT
Nearly five months after postponing the original in-person event in response to COVID-19, the 10th Annual Bench to Bedside competition is set to announce its winners next week.
Bringing together students from engineering, business, and medicine programs, the Bench to Bedside (or “B2B”) program challenges students to identify and address opportunities for improvement in the current health care market. Whether it’s a redesigned surgical tool, an at home health care product for independent living, or a digital application for a smart phone or tablet, the competition aims for teams to work with practicing health care professionals and industry experts to find novel solutions to common problems.
This year, 29 student teams from across Utah have submitted projects to the competition. Representing the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Weber State, and Utah State, the teams are vying for over $100,000 in prize money.
Coordinated by the Center for Medical Innovation at the University of Utah Health, the Bench to Bedside competition typically culminates in an in-person event at the Utah State Capitol Building each spring. At the event hundreds of students, university faculty, community leaders and industry partners join for the night to review each team’s products, network, and announce the award winners in a celebration of Utah’s continued commitment to life sciences innovation.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s competition has moved entirely online. Teams will submit all competition materials for judges to review remotely via an online evaluation portal. The grand prize winner and top teams in each of the Business, Medicine, and Engineering categories will be announced by the Center for Medical Innovation on Sept. 15th
Despite the uncertainty around COVID-19 and the abrupt end to the Spring 2020 semester, twenty-nine is an impressive number of teams still submitting projects to this year’s competition. Some teams include students who have graduated or moved away from their university this summer, but due to the completely online format of the competition, many teams were still able to compete.
To learn more about each of the team’s competing in this year’s competition, click through to see the 2020 Team Gallery
2020 Bench to Bedside Team Gallery
See the full list of participating teams here.