Five Universities in Busan Area Hold the 2nd Busan Mentor-Mentee Biohealth Idea Competition

About 90 Students from Pusan National University, Pukyong National University, Dong-A University, Dong-Eui University, and Busan Health College Participate
Collaboration with Engineering and Medical Institution Mentors, Bio Revolution Team from Pukyong National University Wins Grand Prize

The "2nd Busan Mentor-Mentee Biohealth Idea Competition" to promote entrepreneurship and employment in the biohealth sector among university students in the Busan area was held on the afternoon of the 4th at Asti Hotel in Dong-gu, Busan, with the joint participation of five universities in the Busan region: Pusan National University, Pukyong National University, Dong-A University, Dong-Eui University, and Busan Health College.

Five universities in the Busan area are holding the "2nd Busan Mentor-Mentee Biohealth Idea Competition" and taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Busan National University

The RIS Biohealth Project Group (Director Kim Chang-seok, Professor of Optical Mechatronics Engineering) at Pusan National University (President Choi Jae-won) co-hosted the event with the Busan City and Busan Technopark-supported local government-university cooperation-based regional innovation project (RIS) and the Pusan National University Color Modulation Ultra-Sensory Cognition Technology Leading Research Center.

In Busan, the "Regional Youth Biohealth Entrepreneurship/Employment Activation through Medical-Engineering Inter-University Establishment" project is underway as part of the Busan Regional Innovation Platform project, which supports the establishment of a collaboration system between local governments and universities to nurture talent needed by the region and create an ecosystem for regional development.

This competition expanded from last year's inaugural event, which involved about 60 mentee students in 20 teams composed of undergraduate and graduate students in biomedical engineering from the co-hosting universities Pusan National University, Pukyong National University, and Dong-A University. This year, students from Dong-Eui University and Busan Health College also participated, bringing the total to about 90 students in 28 teams. This expansion provided an opportunity for inter-education among multiple universities, allowing biomedical engineering students to interact and inspire each other.

Notably, the competition provided practical collaboration opportunities with engineering and medical mentors working at 15 mentor institutions, including Pusan National University Hospital, Yangsan Pusan National University Hospital, and Dong-A University Hospital. This allowed students' engineering ideas to connect with clinical medical mentors (M.D.s) and be applied medically, establishing an inter-research environment linking medicine and engineering. This achievement is significant in building the inter-university environment aimed for by the project.

As a pre-event, congratulatory speeches were given by Kim Soo-hyung, Dean of the College of Nano Science and Technology at Pusan National University, and Jeong Ae-sook, Team Leader of the Smart Healthcare Team of Busan City. This was followed by special lectures from Dr. Yoon Seung-jin, a specialist in technology special listing, and Jang Il-ho, CEO of the startup Stemden. The main competition judging took place over two hours through poster presentations, conducted professionally and fairly with participation from venture investors and technology commercialization experts. Afterwards, a networking session was held, hosted by Oh Jin-woo, CEO of GenLife at Pusan National University, and Oh Jung-hwan, CEO of O-Labs at Pukyong National University, showcasing successful cases of technology startups within universities.

The grand prize was awarded to the Bio Revolution team from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Pukyong National University for their project titled "Development of a Portable Ex Vivo Diagnostic Device for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)." The excellence awards went to the FBGentlemen team from the Department of Optical Mechatronics Engineering at Pusan National University and the Nano Surface Research Lab team from the Department of Biomedical Convergence Engineering and Department of Information Convergence Engineering at Pusan National University. The merit awards were given to the AISE team from the Department of Software Engineering at Dong-Eui University, the OT time team from the Department of Occupational Therapy at Busan Health College, and the NextCell team from the Department of Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences at Dong-A University.

Kim Chang-seok, Chair of the Organizing Committee and Director of the Color Modulation Ultra-Sensory Cognition Technology Leading Research Center at Pusan National University, said, "As this is the second competition following last year, the level has become very high, with some projects expected to attract external investment for early commercialization." He added, "Busan has a relatively high number of biohealth-related departments and graduates compared to other regions, so we hope that such competitions and mutual exchange opportunities that promote cooperation between engineering and medical fields and activate employment and entrepreneurship among universities will continue to be supported by local governments in the future."