Heart Hackathon: building Australia's next generation of biomedical innovators

How do you train the next generation of biomedical innovators? Give themone of medicine's toughest challenges to solve.

Created by QUT’s Professor Shaun Gregory, Heart Hackathon is the world'sfirst international total artificial heart design competition. It was developedto give biomedical engineering students the kind of hands-on, large-scaledesign experience long available in other engineering fields but rarely seen inhealthcare innovation.

Working in multidisciplinary teams, students design, prototype and testtechnologies that could help shape the future of artificial heart devices.Along the way, they collaborate with clinicians, researchers and industryexperts while gaining experience in innovation, problem-solving and productdevelopment.

Since launching in Australia in 2022, Heart Hackathon has engaged morethan 1,000 students globally. In 2026 alone, participants from 11 countriestook part, with Australian teams continuing to achieve international success.

By turning one of healthcare's toughest challenges into a globallearning experience, Heart Hackathon is helping inspire and prepare the nextgeneration of medical technology innovators.