To kickstart their journey at QMUL, the 2022 PhD cohort participated in our first 3D printing designathon. During this one-day event, the Engineering Better Medicine (EBM) cohort training programme, the virtual training program on QM plus, and various facilities and resources were introduced. However, there was more... the main purpose of this intense full day designathon was to get the cohort teamed up to design and manufacture a 3D printable assistive device and then pitch their product solutions to a panel of judges to win the competition.

If you haven’t heard of the term "assistive technology" it's a term referring to any technology-driven device designed to assist people facing mental or physical challenges. The teams came up with various innovative solutions to the challenge including 'Drum-ease' an assistive device for drummers, 'CoatClippers' an easy-to-use coat hanger and a 'Pill dispenser lid' to simplify the task of taking pills for those with motor function disorders. All teams managed to design, and 3D print their product prototypes within the given one-day timeframe thanks to their team efforts and the rapid light-based 3D printers at SEMS.

Updated by: Hossein Heidari