Siemens Healthineers Collaborates with Students and Startups to Advance Healthcare

Bangalore, India –November 23, 2022 – Team Phoenix with students from Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College, Coimbatore were the winners of the first Siemens Healthineers SHIFT healthcare hackathon. Team BEES with students from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, and AI Hacks for fun with students from The Northcap University, Gurgaon won second and third place.

The hackathon was held exclusively for students and budding start-ups to advance healthcare with innovation and technology. Over 300 teams participated in the hackathon, which focused on three themes – Access to Care, Digitally Enabled Services, and Smart Fluoroscopic Imaging. After rigorous evaluation, 12 teams were shortlisted for the in-person event at the Siemens Healthineers Technology Center in Bengaluru. 10 student teams and two start-ups worked around the clock for 24 hours to develop and demonstrate working prototypes of their novel ideas.

• Phoenix from Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College, Coimbatore won Rs. 5 lakhs for their prototype on Indigenous Noninvasive glucometer.
• Team BEES from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore won Rs. 3 lakhs for their Affordable Neonatal Deafness Screener.
• AI Hacks for Fun from The Northcap University, Gurgaon won Rs. 1 lakh for their product idea Assessment of Human Skin Burn using Deep Learning and Transfer Learning Techniques.

The shortlisted teams got opportunities to interact with senior business leaders, subject matter experts, and clinical professionals from Siemens Healthineers to take their ideas forward. The participants were also able to explore internship and collaboration opportunities.

Sharing his thoughts on the hackathon, Dileep Mangsuli, Head of the Development Center, Siemens Healthineers, said, “The hackathon captures the essence of SHIFT (Siemens Healthineers Innovation Ecosystem) by accelerating innovation through collaboration beyond borders. Harnessing the potential of young talent is a key to constantly bringing breakthrough innovations to market – for the benefit of patients, medical professionals, and society.”

The Siemens Healthineers SHIFT hackathon is an annual event that aims to build bridges and open new creative forums, in addition to their existing research and development initiatives. Siemens Healthineers SHIFT, the companies’ innovation ecosystem, is driven by the New Ambition phase of the Siemens Healthineers Strategy 2025 that addresses the greatest opportunities in healthcare: fighting the most threatening diseases, enabling efficient operations, and expanding access to care. Siemens Healthineers SHIFT connects people, resources, and tools in one comprehensive ecosystem, enabling collaboration beyond borders and accelerating innovation globally. Through Siemens Healthineers SHIFT, the organization seeks to harness the collective expertise both inside and outside of Siemens Healthineers.

Global Innovation Hub

Siemens Healthineers AG, headquartered in Erlangen, Germany focuses on three areas: diseases, technology, and healthcare equipment.  Acknowledged for its innovations, the India development center in Bengaluru is regarded as the innovation hub or “backbone” of Siemens Healthineers. It was established over a period of 30 years, and is one of the company’s four global innovation hubs. With its technology innovations it strives towards both, advancing healthcare in India and contributing to the global healthcare ecosystem. The India development center has 3,000 employees and will add another 1,800 in the next two or three years.

The India development centre, which contributes through growth, execution, and IT infrastructure, works closely with Siemens Healthineers teams at the other innovation hubs in Shanghai, the U.S., Germany, and Slovakia.

The €18 billion global company has committed an investment of Rs 1,300 crores (€160 million) to establish a new campus housing research and development, manufacturing, and sales near Bengaluru.