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Yale CBIT Healthcare Hackathon 2024

Yale CBIT Healthcare Hackathon 2024

2024 THEME

Preventative medicine with tracks: Access to Care, Physical wellness, Nutrition, Mental Health

The Yale Center for Biomedical Innovation & Technology (CBIT) has led and organized the Yale Healthcare Hackathon since 2014, bringing together over 2500 participants to hack on the greatest needs in digital therapeutics, personalized therapy, women's health, and patient monitoring. 

 

Rules
1. You cannot participate solo. There must be 2+ members to each team. If you are a solo team member, you can find other members to work with at the Hackathon.
2. You must notify the Hackathon Committee if you have any established project, if it has been submitted in other competitions, and/or how far along you are with your project. This will be necessary when the judging portion occurs. Your project will be submitted into a different category appropriately fitted with its stage.
3. You are strongly encouraged to participate for the whole weekend. The Yale CBIT Healthcare Hackathon is committed to urging members full participation as an opportunity to experience the event at full capacity. Opportunities include but are not limited to, access to renowned speakers, expert mentors, networking, distinguished judges, prizes and more.
4. You must abide by the code of conduct. Please take a minute to read the code of conduct below.
5. Final projects are not to be submitted through Devpost. Information on how to submit the final project will be supplied in your program book provided immediately before the start of the hackathon.
6. Final presentations are due as a 3-minute YouTube video and/or narrated PowerPoint! We recommend: 
~1 min: background and presentation of unmet need
~1 min: description of proposed solution
~1 min: explanation of business plan & team member backgrounds. (In the interest of time, not all team members need to speak)
 

HOTELS
There are a few hotels in and near New Haven:
• The Omni Hotel (New Haven)
Call 203-772-6664, or book directly via their website (limited rooms remaining). •
New Haven Hotel (New Haven)
Call 800-644-6835, or book directly via their website (limited rooms remaining).
• Courtyard Marrio< (New Haven) _ not preferred
Call 1-800-MARRIOTT or book via their website •
La Quinta (New Haven) _ not preferred
Call 800-642-4239, select Option 1 and ask for the special rate for the Health Hackathon. •
Hampton Inn (West Haven) _ not preferred
20 min drive from New Haven. FREE parking, breakfast, and Wi-Fi. Call or book online.
• The Study Hotel (New Haven) Address: 1157 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06511
Phone: (203) 503-3900

AIRBNB
This is an affordable alternative to hotels. If you wish to stay at an Airbnb that is not located
within a 10-min walk from the Yale med school, we recommend taking a taxi, especially at night.

SAFETY
As with any city, there are several commonsense things you should do to protect yourself from
preventable danger:
• Never walk alone, especially at night. Stay in well-lit areas.
• Pay attention to your surroundings.
• Do not leave your belongings unattended. Keep your wallet, cell phone, and valuables close.
to you at all times, especially when walking on the streets.
• Lock your car. Do not leave valuables visible in the car (e.g. GPS, money, coins, food, etc.).
• In case of emergency, call 911.
One should always take the necessary precautions to ensure safety, no ma<er where they go.

TRANSPORTATION
Here are some recommended transportation options for going into and around New Haven:

BY TRAIN
Metro-North Railroad and Amtrak - purchase tickets in advance. Both stop at New Haven's Union Station.
For your safety, we recommend taking a taxi or Uber from the train station to the medical school (~5 min),
especially at night.
Yale CBIT
Healthcare Hackathon
Transportation Resources

BY BUS
A number of long-distance buses service downtown New Haven -- Megabus or Greyhound bus
both stop at New Haven's Union Station (train station). Purchase tickets in advance. From Union
Station, we recommend taking a taxi or Uber to the medical school (~5 min), especially at night.

BY CAR
Refer to the hackathon schedule on the homepage for the addresses of the venues. Please
budget additional time for your commute. There is usually a traffic jam on I-95.
For parking, see the map below for lots in the area that are free ager 4:30PM. The Air Rights
Garage (60 York St, New Haven, CT) is also available for a maximum price of $18/day.
Metro taxi: 203-777-7777
*Uber and Lyft are also options

BY PLANE
We recommend flying into one of the following airports:
• Hartford/Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Hartford, CT (~55 miles / ~45 min - 1 hr
from New Haven by GO Airport Shuttle or CT Limo van-share services)
• La Guardia Airport (LGA) in New York (~75 miles / ~1.5 hours from New Haven by GO
Airport Shuttle or CT Limo)
• John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York (~80 miles / ~1.5-2 hours from
New Haven by GO Airport Shuttle or CT Limo)
• Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey (~95 miles / ~2-2.5 hours from
New Haven by GO Airport Shuttle or CT Limo)
The Tweed/New Haven Airport is also an option and is closest to Yale.
If you’re traveling with a large group (i.e. 6 or more on the same flight), Hy’s Limo offers group
pick-ups sometimes at a lower rate than booking individually via GO Airport Shuttle and CT Limo.
 

FAQ’s

Do I need a team? It is not necessary to arrive at the hackathon with a team. Most participants form teams with other participants over the weekend based on background, interest, or ideas.

Do I need to be in college or at Yale to participate?  No, we encourage everyone to join! In 2020, our youngest participant was in 8th grade, and we had participants from as far as Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil, and India. The 2020 participants spanned from over 45 schools and multiple hospital systems.

Do I have to pitch and idea to attend? No, although it is encouraged! You can pitch an idea you’ve been thinking about for years or one you think of during the event. Please note that each pitch will be limited to 60 seconds.

Is the event free? Yes! Thanks to our generous sponsors, we are able to make the Healthcare Hackathon free for everyone!

What if I cannot participate all 3 days? The Friday night kick-off is optional although highly valuable. All participants are expected to participate both Saturday and Sunday — this is when all the action happens!

What should I prepare for the Hackathon? Laptop, power cord, notebook, pen/pencil, digital business cards or resumes, water, and lots of creative energy!

What other resources are provided over the weekend? There is a wealth of intellectual prowess at the hackathon, and we encourage participants to seek advice and guidance from the mentors, speakers, and organizers who will be available throughout the weekend as you develop your solution and final presentation pitch. The mentors, speakers, and organizers have diverse backgrounds ranging from healthcare, business, entrepreneurship, engineering, software and app development, marketing and design, and regulation.

How does the final presentation pitch work? For the final presentations on Sunday afternoon, each team will have a maximum of 3 minutes to pitch (recommended 1 min problem statement and background / customer validation, 1 min prototype or solution demonstration, 1 min business case), followed by up to 2 minutes of Q&A from the judges. After the last team has pitched, judges will deliberate, and winners will be announced at the end of the event. Award categories and prizes are posted on our homepage.

Are teams expected to continue after the Hackathon? We encourage teams to continue working even after the hackathon. Programs and resources to help you continue your project will be available, but ultimately the decision to utilize them is completely up to you and your team.
 

How do I sign up to be a mentor? Please apply on the website or email us at yalehackhealth@gmail.com with the subject line “Mentor” and we’ll get you the appropriate information!

I love healthcare hackathons, and i want to help organize any upcoming hackathons, how do i get involved? Terrific! Please email us at yalehackhealth@gmail.com with the subject line “Volunteering for future hackathons” and we’ll get you connected! The ideal would be for us to have a team(s) who would have ideas to pitch. If participants do not have an idea, then would an idea be assigned to our team, or would we each be assigned to other teams as needed? You can come prepared with an idea to pitch along with a team; however, it is not required. Pitches will take about an hour long with various ideas and pain points pitched by participants. If there is a pitch idea that you (and/or your team) are interested in, you can work on that idea instead. Just be mindful that other participants may want to join your team if they are interested in the same pitch idea. We encourage that you allow others to work with you if that is the case. You will not be assigned to an idea; you are free to choose what you are most interested in working on.

If the team's idea is not considered good by the committee, will they be given the opportunity to work on better ideas? No idea is considered not good. In the case that an idea is not fully formed, there will be around 50 expert mentors with experience in diverse backgrounds that are available throughout the weekend to help move the idea from start to finish. They will be there to guide the participants along the ideation path to create a finished project to present on Sunday. The team will have plenty of opportunities to work closely with these mentors all weekend if needed. Do not worry!

It looks like the past winners are mostly college/graduate students. Does that mean that it's best for faculty/administrators/professionals to volunteer/mentor instead of being participants? Our audience is primarily college/graduate students; however, we do have faculty/administrators/professionals who participate as well. We highly encourage them to participate if they have never been to a hackathon before to experience how wonderful and fun it is! (There also have been instances where faculty/administrators/professionals work with a team all weekend and prefer to give all credit to the students as well so they may not be in photos). If a faculty/administrators/professional does participate this year and loves it, they can come back of course to participate again, or if they want to be a mentor instead, we can most certainly discuss it!

For anyone who is not very skilled (e.g. someone < 18 yrs. old) or unsure about what's involved, it's best for them to register as a volunteer the first time to learn more, correct? They can participate! It would be a great opportunity for them to work with others with different skills and interests from them! This is a great event to learn about innovation and work on problem solving and the process in general. It is great to spark young minds!

Can faculty participate as well? Yes, of course! We highly encourage them to participate if they have never been to a hackathon before to experience how wonderful and fun it is! If a faculty member does participate this year and loves it, they can come back of course to participate again, or if they want to be a mentor instead, we can most certainly discuss it!