The public presentation of the demonstrators prepared by the Tech-Athon 2023 finalists took place on June 11, 2024, at the Center for Advanced Materials and Technologies CEZAMAT, Warsaw University of Technology. Tech-Athon is an event where teams composed of doctoral students from the Warsaw University of Technology and invited guests develop concepts for innovative technological solutions with implementation potential, consult their ideas with mentors, and present them in the form of pitches to the competition jury during the final. Finalists, with funding from the "Excellence Initiative – Research University" programme, conduct research and development work on these projects to publicly present the demonstrator during DemoDay the following year.

1 out of 5

This time, five concepts were presented during DemoDay: a myoelectric hand prosthesis that can "grow" with a child (3D Hand team), a solution that shortens the rehabilitation period after a limb fracture using printed electro-stimulation layers (PulseLayers team), a novel system for synthesizing e-fuel (Hydrogenius team), a tool supporting cancer treatment through personalized CAR-T therapy (QPI4MED team), and a project using simple tools and gamification to aid respiratory therapy (pd meds team).

Each team had 10 minutes to present their project, followed by questions from the jury. Presentations were evaluated based on innovation, implementation potential, quality of diagnosis and problem definition, and interdisciplinarity.

The competition jury, chaired by Prof. Mariusz Malinowski, Vice-Rector for Research (jury chairman), Prof. Zbigniew Brzózka,  Prof. Elżbieta Malinowska, Prof. Bartłomiej Ufnalski decided to award the pd meds team.

– This is a great distinction, especially in the face of such interesting projects presented by the competition – says Krzysztof Zawalski from pd meds. – Moments like these are joyful and motivating for further work. I hope that with the acquired funds, we will get closer to achieving our goals and that our product will support respiratory training in the near future.

The pd meds team consists of Piotr Falkowski (team leader, doctoral student at the Warsaw University of Technology, affiliated with the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering, main specialist in rehabilitation robotics at the Łukasiewicz–PIAP Institute), Maciej Pikuliński (doctoral student at the Warsaw University of Technology, affiliated with the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering, responsible for IT technologies in the project), Anna Pastor (graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at Wrocław University of Science and Technology and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, specialist in marketing and communication in the project), Bazyli Leczkowski (student at the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering, responsible for mechanics development in the project), Krzysztof Zawalski (student at the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering, employee of the Łukasiewicz-PIAP Institute, responsible for electronics development in the project).

Breathe training

The team is supported by specialists in medicine and business trainers, aiming to bring the product to market next year. Currently, a stable demonstrator has been developed and will be tested in medical facilities. BreathX, as the system is called, is a simple device measuring breaths and a phone application that automates exercises and reminds users to repeat therapy regularly. The advantage of the system is its simple construction, multifunctionality, and low final product price. According to the pd meds team, the device will be easy to use, patient-friendly, and the exercises will not be boring thanks to the introduction of game and visualization elements. The system aims to help people with various psychological problems, especially those caused by stress, respiratory insufficiency, and speech disorders.

–  I am very pleased that the need to support breath training is recognized and appreciated, as evidenced by this wonderful event – comments Piotr Falkowski from pd meds. – We can survive over a month without food, a few days without drinking, but only a few minutes without breathing. Despite this, we have commonly focused on healthy eating and hydration, while there has been little information about healthy breathing in the public space. We hope that with the implementation of BreathX, this will change significantly, and anyone who feels the need, especially due to ubiquitous stress, will be able to reach for their own personal breathing coach from the shelf.

A Competition that delivers results

Tech-Athon is a competition organized at the Warsaw University of Technology, with prizes funded by the "Excellence Initiative – Research University" program by the Scientific Councils of four Priority Research Areas (POB): Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering, Photonic Technologies, Energy Conversion and Storage, and Cybersecurity and Data Analysis. The first edition of the competition took place in 2022 under the name MedTech-Athon and was dedicated to biotechnology and medicine solutions. The competition is organized by three units of Warsaw University of Technology: the Centre for Advanced Materials and Technologies CEZAMAT, the Innovations Centre CINN, and the Doctoral School, providing participants with access to training conducted by professionals from both scientific fields and training in areas such as design thinking, business model canvas, project management, and user experience (UX).

– Tech-Athon is not only an interesting form of education for doctoral students but also an event that delivers results in the form of innovative projects – said Prof. Mariusz Malinowski, Vice-Rector for Research at the Warsaw University of Technology, during the award ceremony. – I think that we will hear about the teams that participated in this event many more times, and their members will achieve not only research and scientific success but also business success.