i-Days 2024: DEX IC, TUL, and KNL Supported Students in Creating Innovations for Alzheimer’s Patients

Day 1: Identifying Challenges and Team Formation

The first day began with an introduction and a presentation of the design thinking methodology, which guided participants throughout the event. Students, divided into multidisciplinary teams, focused on identifying and understanding the key challenges faced by Alzheimer’s patients. The day was dedicated to brainstorming, team formation, and preparing for the hands-on creation of prototypes, which took place the following day. Expert mentors played a key role. "This event is a great opportunity to connect young talents with real problems that need to be addressed in healthcare. We see a lot of potential and great ideas here," said Jindřich Cýrus from CXI TUL. The coaches of the individual student teams, Michal Štefan, Vojtěch Jíra, Helena Jurašková, and Adam Červenka from DEX Innovation Centre (DEX IC), provided valuable guidance, helping students turn their ideas into actionable prototypes. "Watching students improve step by step and come up with concrete solutions is incredibly motivating for us," remarked Vojtěch Jíra.

Day 2: Prototyping and Final Presentations

On  the second day, teams focused on creating prototypes, testing the viability of their concepts, and preparing final presentations for the jury. The atmosphere was dynamic, and students faced challenges as they developed practical solutions, receiving feedback from mentors and industry experts. "Initiatives like i-Days show the great potential students have in the field of healthcare innovation. It’s amazing to watch how ideas turn into concrete solutions that can have a real impact on patient care. Collaboration between students, mentors, and professionals is key to the creation of these innovations," added Jana Šimanová from EF TUL.

"Miro was a key tool that significantly facilitated collaboration for students. If you’re not familiar with or don’t use Miro, think of it as an endless virtual whiteboard where team members and other users can create attractive visual notes on various topics and structure them into thematic groups as needed. One of its main advantages is that it allows both real-time collaboration and the ability to store and continuously update project data. This greatly reduces the issue of fragmented information, which we often encounter," explained Michal Štefan from DEX Innovation Centre.

Winning Projects

The event concluded with presentations, where each team presented its project, explaining the problem they aimed to solve and how their prototype contributed to solving that issue. After careful deliberation, the jury selected the top three projects.

First place went to the MediBuddy project, an automated pill dispenser that helps patients and caregivers manage medication more effectively. This project was created by Eliška Holubová, Filip Charouzd, Jana Hlaváčová, Petra Bachtlíková, and Vojtěch Šíp, and it was awarded for its practical usability and potential to significantly improve the lives of Alzheimer’s patients. The winning team will represent TUL at the Grand Finale in Budapest, where they will compete with other i-Days winners from across Europe. "MediBuddy has great potential to simplify life for patients and their caregivers. We are excited that this project is moving on to the European finals in Budapest," said the jury.

Second place was awarded to the Hands-free Care project, an innovative solution for hands-free care, created by David Kárník, Zuzana Rozsypalová, Kateřina Silná, and Tomáš Marx. The project impressed the jury with its focus on improving daily caregiving tasks for people with limited mobility.

Third place went to the Moje Paměť project, a memory support system aimed at improving cognitive function in Alzheimer’s patients. The team, consisting of Lucie Strnádková, Anna Loren Harries, and Radim Kala, created a user-friendly solution that combines technology and cognitive therapy. "This project shows the importance of combining technology with therapy in caring for Alzheimer’s patients," added Marek Háša from Kaleido VR.

Invaluable Contribution of Mentors

The success of i-Days 2024 would not have been possible without the support of the mentors who guided the teams through the innovation process. A big thank you goes to Tomáš Posker (Datron, a.s.), Lucie Ptáčková (KNL Liberec), Eva Procházková (FZS TUL), Tomáš Vašák (Cognio, s.r.o.), Vendula Macháčková (KNL Liberec), Petr Koubský (Deník N), Jana Vitvarová (TUL), Vít Karvay (Linet, s.r.o.), Jindřich Cýrus (CXI TUL), Marek Háša (Kaleido VR), Lenka Kosková Třísková (TUL), Irena Peková (Reva o.p.s.), and Lenka Kořínková for their invaluable contribution. "It was inspiring to see how students applied design thinking and transformed their ideas into functional projects," said Eva Procházková from FZS TUL.

The event provided students with an opportunity to practically apply design thinking in a real-world context and develop solutions that can positively impact healthcare. "This event showed how important it is to connect theory with practice. The key was the multidisciplinary teams, which allowed for the combination of different professional perspectives and approaches, leading to more comprehensive solutions," concluded Vendula Macháčková from KNL Liberec.