Similar to a Hack-a-Thon, the Make-a-Thon is a competition in which participants have 48 hours to design and prototype a medical device that solves a given clinical or medical problem.
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The Make-a-Thon aims to provide engineering students with a hands-on experience using CAD and the design process in preparation for their capstone senior design project. Students will have the opportunity to prototype their device using the CITE (Center for Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship) Lab on campus, as well as resources from the College on Engineering Student Success Center. Utilizing 3D printing, laser cutting, and other prototyping techniques, the teams will work to turn their designs into a functional device to present to industry professionals from the rapidly expanding San Antonio Medical Community.

This event follows the outline of an event that has been ongoing at BMES UC Davis for the Past 5 years. At some of these design competitions, students created a skin biopsy tool for procuring tissue samples from the wings of bats (currently being used by UC Davis Veterinarians), a low cost, modular, adjustable pair of eyeglass frames for economically disadvantaged communities, and a device that utilizes a person’s smartphone as an ophthalmoscope in order to record and capture images of patients’ retinas. All of these innovations were created in under 2 days after the design prompt was given at the onset of the competition.

The Second annual Medical Make-a-thon will take place January 31st - February 2nd, 2020.

We look forward to hosting this year's competition and hope that you will be able to participate!

*This event and its description were adopted from the UC Davis BMES Make-a-Thon