Frequently Asked Questions

The 2022 Health Hack Competition will run from March 24 to May 9. The Innovator Icebreaker will be on March 24, followed by Pitch Day on March 25. Innovator teams will then spend 6 weeks designing their solutions and prototype them during Health Hack Weekend, which runs from May 6 to 8. Finally, teams will then present their prototypes to judges and the public on May 9. Check each event page for further details.

If your background is in business: your intuition for finance, pitch competitions and/or entrepreneurship will help set your team apart on Demo Day with a clear plan for impact with the technology solution.

If you background is marketing or graphic design: your knowledge of social media, design principles and effective branding will help elevate your team’s brand above the rest.

The Competition is open to everyone that is studying at, or holds a degree from, a post-secondary institution! Regardless of the institution you attend, level of education or if you are a student at all. Industry professionals and academics are all welcome.

During the 6-week program, innovators should expect to put in 2-3 hours per week with their team on the project. There will be two 'Development Reports' spaced out over the program, as well as 3 mandatory workshops. Completion/attendance of these will gain your team points as you compete for awards. Depending on the nature of the project you participate in (hardware or software), we will also make prototyping and mentorship resources available during the Health Hack Weekend (12 hrs/day, May 6 – 8).

Many teams will also take the opportunity to learn more about the various stakeholders and industry dynamics which will take more time compared to a team that sticks to simply solving the challenge based on the information from their challenge champion. We will also facilitate a number of workshops on a variety of technical and non-technical topics.

Absolutely! We recognize that our participants will have different schedules. Missing an event, or a day of the Hack Weekend should not disrupt your experience as long as you coordinate with your team.

An exception to this rule is Pitch Day. We strongly recommend that you make every effort to attend this as it’s when you’ll learn about challenges and form a team. Being able to meet with the prospective team members will help you get the most out of the program. If you cannot attend Pitch Day, however, we’ll add you to a ‘Free Agents’ list, so that smaller/underskilled teams that form can recruit you in the first week of the program.

Challenge champions are individuals with deep knowledge of a challenge in medical/life science research, the healthcare system, or medical/life science industry. We encourage patient experts, doctors, nurses, entrepreneurs, industry and community professionals to submit challenges.

Challenge champions should make every effort to attend Pitch Day in its entirety. This is where you will present your medical/healthcare challenge, and inspire a multidisciplinary team to address it during the program.

After Pitch Day, the level of involvement is up to you. The schedule of our Challenge champions vary greatly in terms of flexibility, and we therefore encourage them to be as involved with their team as they can allow. Many challenge champions take a mentorship philosophy and meet with their teams occasionally throughout the competition. Other challenge champions take on a leadership role within the team and coordinate meetings, purchases, and set the direction. Regardless of your style, those teams that have access to timely and regular feedback and guidance tend to do better, both during the competition and afterwards.

As our aim is to facilitate the collaboration between innovators and medical professionals, I4H will not take ownership of any IP developed during its events. At Challenge Pitches, the medical professionals will outline their needs for IP (if they have any), and innovators are then free to form teams that are most aligned with their goals. During the program, we recommend that the team keeps this dialogue open, especially if the project involves inventions that can be protected. I4H maintains a roster of mentors specializing in IP that can be consulted on specific issues.

Teams will demonstrate their solution and pitch their plan to a panel of judges on Demo Day which will evaluate them against several criteria, and select those for several category awards and an top overall prize. In addition, there will be a 'Peoples' Choice' award, selected by the community. More information will be made available to participants after the official program launch.