ABEC Design Competition 2020

CALL FOR  FIRST STAGE ENTRY APPLICATIONS

THEME: Combating non-communicable diseases in low and middle-income countries through advanced research and innovation.

DUE DATE: 3rd April 2020 (first stage)

HOW TO APPLY: Download template for first stage application [here], fill it accordingly and send it to info@abec-africa.org 

BENEFITS:

• The best-ranked projects (see the evaluation criteria below) will qualify for the second stage. After the second stage selection, up to forty protect team representatives will win a full board trip to attend a one-week Design School which will be hosted in Malawi. The team member representatives will learn advanced product designing, manufacturing, and marketing skills during the Desing School.

• The team member representative will have a chance to network with world-class engineering  and marketing experts in biomedical, mechanical, electrical  and related fields

• The representatives will be grouped into multinational groups that will have a possibility to win group prizes and seed funding to scale up their projects.

Details on the Competition

According to the World Health Organization, non-communicable diseases are chronic and “are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behaviours factors.” Non-communicable diseases kill about fourteen-million people each year – about 71% of global deaths. Examples of non-communicable diseases include cancers, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases.

Thus, you are required to design a product, process or medical solution to mitigate any specific problem caused by any non-communicable disease. The medical solution can focus on diagnosis, treatment, or management of any non-communicable disease.

Successful teams emerging from the design competition will have one team member invited to a one-week design school featuring an innovative engineering instructional framework, namely Conceive Design Implement Operate (CDIO), which will be realized as a series of workshops and classes to equip students with the necessary skills to design a product by the end of the school. In addition, UBORA, an e-infrastructure for the co-design of open-source medical devices, underpinned by European Medical Device Standards, will be used to co-create, conceptualize and develop open-source medical devices.

EVALUATION PROCEDURE

Projects should be prepared according to the template downloadable at abec-africa.org/template

First stage

In the first stage, the evaluation process will be based on the following criteria:

• Introduction (5 points)
  • Aim and SMART objectives (2 Points))
  • Methodology (3 Points))
• The idea and conceptual design (12 points)
  • Well labelled, assembly CAD drawings or schematic diagrams (4 Points))
  • Principle of operation (1 Point))
  • Technical Feasibility (3 Points))
  • Simulation of the design (4 Points))
• Literature review, Target audience and Health Impact (5 Points)
  • Target and statistical impact (2 Points))
  • Relevance to global innovations in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of non-communicable diseases (1 Point)
  • Demonstrates potential for widespread health impact (3 Points))
• Discussion and conclusion (10 Points))
  • Comprehensive explanation on how the product, process or proposed solution works (5 Points))
  • Validation of proposed solution using literature, simulations, proposed experiments, etc(4 Points))
  • Illustrates how the innovation will address the health need (1Point)
• Teamwork and Technology/Process/Systems Innovation (5 Points)
  • Offers a new and creative solution (‘better/faster/cheaper/reliable/affordable’) (2 Points)
  • Provides convincing rationale for why this unique approach has the potential to work  (1 Point)
  • Multi-disciplinary team composition (2 Points))
• References (3 Points))
  • Relevant references (2 Points)
  • Professional referencing (1 point)

Second Stage

In the second stage, the evaluation process will be based on the following criteria:

• Prototype (10 points)
  • Standard product design specification (2)
  • Working prototype as evidenced by videos and pictures (6 points)
  • Innovation not repetition of what has already been done (2)
• Health Impact (3 Points)
  • Relevance to global innovations in surgery, obstetrics and anaesthesia (2 Points)
  • Illustrates how the innovation will address the health need (1Point)
• Technology/Process/Systems Innovation (7 Points)
  • Offers a new and creative solution (‘better/faster/cheaper/reliable/affordable’) (2 points)
  • Provides a convincing rationale for why this unique approach has the potential to work  (2.5 points)
  • Addresses significant technical issues relevant for low- and middle-income countries, and cost efficiency (2 points
  • Multi-disciplinary team composition (0.5 points)

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

The project brief must be prepared according to the 2020 first stage application template found on templates page. The application must be one PDF document saved as Project Brief_Title_Last_name_of_Applicant. Send the file to info@abec-africa.org.

ELIGIBILITY

• The team have to be composed of at least three undergraduate students or recent graduates in  the fields of engineering, medicine, and related programs

• Any nationality

KEY DATES

Timeline for the 2020 ABEC Design Competition:

1. Project brief submission as per template – due on 3^rd April 2020 5th June 2020 (23:59 GMT)
2. Notification to applicants accepted for full proposal submission –29^th April 2020 30th June 2020
3. Submission of full proposals as per template – 30^th June 2020 28th  August 2020 (23:59 GMT)
4. Announcement of finalists –20^th July 2020 21st  September 2020