Biomedical engineering undergrads win cash prizes for medical device designs
The National Institutes of Health and higher education non-profit VentureWell today announced 14 winners and five honorable mentions in the Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge. Awardees are set to receive prizes totaling $190,000, with a presentation planned for October at the annual conference of the Biomedical Engineering Society in San Diego.
Now in its 14th year, DEBUT prompts undergraduate teams to devise technologies that address unmet health needs. This year, an NIH expert panel assessed submissions from 123 teams, representing 534 students from 67 universities across 24 U.S. states.
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and VentureWell, along with eight NIH partners, supported this year’s challenge. The NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and the National Institute on Aging sponsored select awards.
“NIH’s DEBUT Challenge is a showcase for the remarkable creativity and ingenuity of undergraduate biomedical engineering students across the country,” said NIBIB Director Bruce J. Tromberg, Ph.D. “NIH celebrates all the teams who participated and congratulates the award winners for developing exceptionally innovative and promising technologies for longstanding health care challenges.”
An automated gauge for detection of hemorrhagic shock in children took first prize, followed by a sensor to detect vibrations of abnormal blood flow in people with a vascular defect and a handheld device to guide neonatal lumbar puncture. For descriptions of all 14 winners, visit the 2025 DEBUT winners page.