INTRODUCTION

As COVID-19 creates unprecedented challenges that have never been seen before, the Emory University and Georgia Tech communities have the opportunity to help. The Emory Global Health Institute, the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech & Emory, CREATE X, and the Emory University School of Medicine are partnering to host a virtual hackathon with students from both universities to pursue solutions to challenging problems sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This hackathon will include teams comprised of Georgia Tech and Emory students who will  develop solutions for multiple COVID-19-related problems. Three winning teams will each receive a $10,000 cash prize, the opportunity to take their solution to market through Georgia Tech’s CREATE-X Startup Launch accelerator, and other potential investment opportunities. 

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COMPETITION

All teams will compete in Round 1, and finalists will move forward to Round 2. 

Round 1: May 8 - 10 | Students will explore COVID-19-related problems, and develop a clear design for solving a problem. 

  • Deliverable: PPT and video describing the problem and solution.
  • Submission Deadline: Sunday, May 10, 8 AM
  • Judging: Review of online submission.
  • Selection of Finalists: Monday, May 11 by 5 PM

Round 2: May 11 - 16 | Finalists will work on refining the project design and presentation of the solution. 

  • Deliverable: PPT + video describing the project and the plan to make it a market-ready product.
  • Submission Deadline: Friday, May 15, 12 PM
  • Judging: Review of online submission + live Q&A with judges via Zoom on Sat, May 16, 12 PM
  • Selection of Winners: Saturday, May 16, by 3 PM

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REGISTRATION:

  1. Create Devpost account + profile - *must write Emory or GT in your Devpost bio.
  2. Register for EGHI/GT HACK COVID-19 - *must use your Emory or GT email address.
  3. Receive registration confirmation email.
  4. Form teams using the Participants page on Devpost or Slack or HERE - *cannot work alone.
  5. Review tracks, and determine specific problem to address.
  6. Submit Hack Team Form once team is complete & problem is selected - deadline: May 8, 6 PM.

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DEADLINES:

  • Registration Deadline                                Thursday, May 7, 12 PM
  • Start of Hackathon                                      Friday, May 8, 2020, 8 AM
  • Round 1 Submission Deadline                Sunday, May 10, 2020, 8 AM
  • Selection of Finalists                                 Monday, May 11, 2020, by 3 PM
  • Round 2 Submission Deadline                Friday, May 15, 2020, 12 PM
  • Round 2 Live Q&A with Judges               Saturday, May 16, 2020, 12 PM
  • Selection of Winners                                  Saturday, May 16, 2020, by 3 PM

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TRACKS TO HACK:

  • Transmission/Personal Protective Equipment
  • Social Distancing
  • Workplace Impact
  • Supply Chain
  • Healthcare Delivery
  • Testing
  • Contact Tracing
  • Other
  • More details here.

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RESOURCES:

Google Drive

Slack

Eligibility

Hackathon is open to undergraduate or graduate students from Emory University and Georgia Tech (including May 2020 graduates). Each team can have up to 6 students and must include at least one from Emory University and at least one from Georgia Tech. Please note, you cannot work alone!

Multidisciplinary teams are strongly encouraged, and will be incentivized during judging!

Make sure to use your Emory or GT email address upon registration. If you are a May 2020 graduate, please indicate this in your Devpost profile and on the Hack Team Form.

Inegligble:

- Alumni from Emory or GT, unless graduating May 2020 (right before hackathon)

- Incoming Fall 2020 Emory or GT students 

- Anyone who is not a current student, or May 2020 graduate. 

- People working alone - you must have a team!

Requirements

On the Participants Page, you will see a green button at the top that says “Update My Portfolio.” This is where you will submit your project - one per team.

Submission for Round 1 

  • PPT and video describing the problem and solution.
    • PPT: 4-5 slides
    • Video: 5 min limit
  • Please review size limits on the Submission page. You may embed links, if needed.
  • The submission components can be found HERE.

*May use prototype or digital modeling to demonstrate your product idea. It is up to you how to showcase its viability virtually. Judges will review all types of projects the same.

Submission for Round 2

  • PPT + video describing the refined project and the plan to make it into a market-ready product.
    • PPT: 4-5 slides
    • Video: 5 min limit
  • Please review size limits on the Submission page. You may embed links, if needed.
  • Live Q&A with judges via Zoom.
  • The submission guidelines can be found HERE.

*May use prototype or digital modeling to demonstrate your product idea. It is up to you how to showcase its viability virtually. Judges will review all types of projects the same.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

1 non-cash prize
Selection into finalist Round 2
9 winners

At the end of Round 1, 8-10 teams will be selected to move onto the finalist Round 2. Those teams will compete to receive a $10,000 cash prize and automatic enrollment in the CREATE-X Startup Launch Accelerator. In addition, other investment opportunities will also be available.

CREATE-X Startup Launch is a 12-week accelerator program that will occur virtually this summer. Once Startup Launch begins this summer, you will automatically receive a $4,000 grant, as well as legal, accounting, design, and cloud computing services.

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Steven Yeh

Steven Yeh
M. Louise Simpson Professor of Opthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine

Anna Yaffee

Anna Yaffee
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

Martha Rogers

Martha Rogers
Director, Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Jeff Koplan

Jeff Koplan
Vice President for Global Health, Emory University

Diane Morof

Diane Morof
Medical Epidemiologist, Reproductive Health Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Cyndy Whitney
Executive Director, Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance Network

Lisa Cranmer

Lisa Cranmer
Assistant Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine

Shawna Khouri

Shawna Khouri
Managing Director, Biolocity and Program Director, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University

Sahil Patel
Chief Executive Officer, ER Express

Rupen Patel

Rupen Patel
Chief Strategy Officer, Healthgrades

John Sears

John Sears
Director of Intellectual Property, Anzu Partners

Simon Lee
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Emory University School of Medicine

Sara Blough

Sara Blough
Monitoring & Evaluations ORISE Fellow, Stop Transmission of Polio Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Zach Bercu

Zach Bercu
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology and Imaging Services, Emory University School of Medicine

Sharon Vanairsdale

Sharon Vanairsdale
Program Director for Serious Communicable Diseases, Emory University Hospital

Jason Prystowsky

Jason Prystowsky
Emergency Medicine Physician, Cottage Health

Linda Arnold

Linda Arnold
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Yale School of Medicine

Parmi Suchdev

Parmi Suchdev
Professor of Pediatrics and Global Health, Emory University and Associate Director, Emory Global Health Institute

Helen Baker

Helen Baker
Assistant Clinical Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Quyen Phan

Quyen Phan
Assistant Professor, Nell Hodgson Woofruff School of Nursing

Indi Trehan

Indi Trehan
Emergency Medicine and Infectious Disease Physician, Seattle Children's Hospital

Jay Raol
Director of Quantitative Research, Invesco Fixed Income

Cierra Crowder

Cierra Crowder
Associate Director, Biolocity and Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University

Siva Jayaraman

Siva Jayaraman
Director Strategic Partnerships, Institute for People and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology

David Greenky

David Greenky
Fellow, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

Anandi Sheth

Anandi Sheth
Associate Professor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

Kara Conway

Kara Conway
Assistant Professor of Biology, Jacksonville University

Mo Ali

Mo Ali
Associate Professor of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health

Rick Goodman

Rick Goodman
Professor, Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

Megha Shah

Megha Shah
Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

Jim O'Keefe

Jim O'Keefe
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

Ted Johnson

Ted Johnson
Professor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

Javier Valle

Javier Valle
Associate Director, Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

Priscilla Hall

Priscilla Hall
Senior Instructor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Benn Konsynski
George S. Craft Distinguished University Professor, Goizueta Business School

Wes Longhofer

Wes Longhofer
Associate Professor of Organization and Management, Goizueta Business School

Amelia Schaffner

Amelia Schaffner
Director of Entrepreneurship, Goizueta Business School

Kevin Redmon

Kevin Redmon
Business (Partner A&M, Inc.); computer engineer

Madeleine Beans

Madeleine Beans

Nammy Vedire

Nammy Vedire
Director, Platforms & Operations, ENGAGE

Nakia Melecio

Nakia Melecio
Entrepreneur in Residence, Advanced Technology Development Center, Georgia Institute of Technology

Christy Brown
President, Launchpad2X

Kurt Jacobus

Kurt Jacobus
CEO, Medshape; Managing Director, Georgia Research Alliance Venture Capital Fund, LCC, Georgia Institute of Technology

Evan Ruff
CEO, Micro-C Imaging, Inc.

Mark Shacklette

Mark Shacklette
CEO, Lake Shore MicroTech Group; Adjunct Professor, Department of Computer Sciences, University of Chicago

Jon Birdsong

Jon Birdsong
Partner, Atlanta Ventures

Michael Cohn
Former tech entrepreneur, VC Overline.vc

Tom McNeight

Tom McNeight
Tech entrepreneur, Partner- Tech Operators-VC

James Rains

James Rains
Professor of Practice, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University

Ben Garrett

Ben Garrett
Innovation Programming & Operations Manager, The Hatchery at Emory University

John Beans

John Beans
Founder and President, Jolly Logic

Randal Cooper

Randal Cooper
Chief Technologist, Battery Management at Texas Instruments

Ron Sluder
Director, Retail SW Engineering, Intel

Kevin Crosby
Portfolio Manager, Amazon Alexa Fund

Kelsey Kubelick

Kelsey Kubelick
Doctoral Student, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University

John Avery

John Avery
Director, Advanced Technology Development Center, Georgia Institute of Technology

Rudy Gleason

Rudy Gleason
Associate Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Sam Broida

Sam Broida
Medical Student, Emory University School of Medicine

Doug Allvine

Doug Allvine
Assistant Athletics Director of Innovation, Georgia Institute of Technology

Gautam Goel

Gautam Goel
Entrepreneur in Residence, VU Venture Partners

Noa Davidson

Noa Davidson
AWS Connections

David Meyer

David Meyer
Assistant Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University

Denis Tsygankov

Denis Tsygankov
Assistant Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University

Evan Goldberg
GCMI Program Director

Ben Dyer

Ben Dyer
Entrepreneur in Residence, Morris, Manning, & Martin, LLP

Robert Mannino
Postdoctoral Fellow, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University

MacKay Jimeson
Managing Director, Ember Global Advisors

Chris Lee

Chris Lee
Chairman and CEO, Huxley Medical, Inc

Erika Tyburski
CEO, Sanguina, Inc.

Mark Samuels

Mark Samuels
President, CEO and Director, DiligentCXO

Judging Criteria

  • Realness of Problem
    Has the team verified that this is a real problem? Has the verification come from talking to real customers and users? The more non-obvious the problem is, the better.
  • Magnitude of Problem/Impact
    How big is the problem? How many people is it likely to impact? How often does the problem occur for those people? Where would this problem rank in terms of severity for the people targeted? The bolder the problem, the better.
  • Innovation/Creativity of Solution
    Is the solution to the problem creative/innovative? Is a unique approach used to solve the problem? Has the team learned anything interesting about what the design should be based on the unique needs of the users/customers?
  • Viability of Solution
    What is the confidence level for the design working? Is there a clear pathway from where the design currently is to a prototype & eventually to a product? Is it feasible & practical? How quickly can the solution be built?
  • Delivery of Pitch
    Does your PPT and video fully explain all details pertaining to your problem and solution? Do the judges have a clear idea of your problem and solution?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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