The Carle Illinois College of Medicine will host its second-annual Health Make-a-Thon competition on Saturday, August 8, from 2-5 p.m. The online event is open to the public.
Twenty teams of citizen-scientists, students, and healthcare practitioners from across the state of Illinois will pitch their ideas for improving health. Ten winning teams will be selected, each receiving $10,000 in resources, materials, and mentorship, and access to the Health Maker Lab network of design and making facilities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois) to design, fabricate and prototype their idea.
The 20 finalists will pitch their ideas in a ‘dolphin tank’ format, which is similar to a shark tank, but friendlier. Each team will be given two minutes for their presentation and the judges will be given two minutes for questions. The judges and the online audience will vote on each team’s idea and pitch.
The panel of judges includes representatives from the Illinois and Carle Hospital, community members, entrepreneurs, and Illinois alumni with health companies.