UC BIOMED offers students a wide range of opportunities including attending biomedical engineering conferences within NZ and abroad, hosting field trips to biomedical engineering companies and research groups, building medical diagnostic kits and children’s prosthetic hands (and designing solutions) for Engineering World Health, eNable, HACKBerry, and other organisations, and participating in international design competitions, such as Heart Hackathon to design a total artificial heart. The club also proactively develops research and summer work opportunities for engineering students interested in the medical field.
Networking Events
UC BIOMED has 110+ members and likes to participate in UC Open Days, club days, academic events and anniversaries (including the UC 150th Anniversary alumni event), and outreach events, such as National Biomechanics Week and Decide Your Discipline.
In collaboration with IEEE and TronSoc, UC BIOMED hosts industry panel Q&A evenings, with invited guests coming from many different engineering companies, including Taska, Enztec, MedSalv, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. Each year, at least 60 students attend each of these events.
The club also hosts annual BBQs outside UCSA Herea-Roa, which also serve as a networking opportunity for engineering students to meet and discuss biomedical engineering.
Heart Hackathon
Heart Hackathon is UC BIOMED’s flagship event. Heart Hackathon is an annual international design competition that runs from February to November where teams from universities design, prototype and manufacture a total artificial heart. Throughout 2023 UC BIOMED competed in the competition as a club project, successfully meeting all deadlines and developing a prototype. 2023 featured a team of 6 students working on different aspects of the design. In 2024 this project was offered as a final year project (FYP). A team of 3 dedicated students are working on their design for the heart, and the UC BIOMED club has a collaborating team designing and developing the fluid test station. The world championships will be held in Japan in November 2024, and the FYP team hopes to present their results at the event.
