Bath students heading to Japan aiming to defend their Heart Hackathon world title

Team Bath Heart (TBH), who came first among student teams from around the world in last year’s inaugural competition, are heading to Japan to showcase their working artificial heart in the 2024 grand final.

The Heart Hackathon aims to nurture the next generation of medical and cardiovascular innovators, by tasking student-led teams to design, prototype and evaluate their own total artificial heart – a device technically capable of the entire job of a real heart.

TBH are the UK’s sole representatives at the event, and will compete against teams from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Romania, Egypt, Thailand and Sweden.

Made up of students studying a range of engineering, science and management courses, the 70-strong team believe they have improved on 2023’s successful prototype by making the new version more compact and using innovations including 3D printing.

Team lead Mansi Ahuja, who is studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering, said: “We are so excited and grateful for the opportunity to travel to Japan for the Heart Hackathon competition.

“We have worked countless hours getting our prototype ready for the competition. We’re aiming high and hope for great results to share and celebrate with the University and all of our supporters.”

Eight members of the team will set off today, ahead of the Heart Hackathon grand final next Tuesday (12 November) where they will present their final design to international experts.

The contest will take place in Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, alongside the International Society for Mechanical Circulatory Support (ISMCS) conference, a gathering of world leaders in circulatory support devices. The winners will have the chance to present their design to the conference.

Dr Katharine Fraser, a Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering and one of the team’s academic supervisors, said: “The team has really built on last years’ success by making the new design more robust, smaller and more sophisticated. Their efforts in securing sponsorship to create the heart and to fund their entry to the Heart Hackathon have also been really impressive.”

The team has received support to create their device and fund the trip from sponsors and donors including Ansys, Autodesk, Keysight, 3P Innovation, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the University of Bath’s Centre for Learning and Teaching and the Faculty of Engineering and Design. They have also received support in arranging and funding the trip from the Sasakawa Foundation, which builds education links between the UK and Japan.