Digital Health Innovation Challenge

The ZHAW Digital Health Innovation Challenge invites students and early-career professionals with a passion for artificial intelligence, IT, or robotics in healthcare to take part in a dynamic, hands-on innovation experience. Over the course of two months, participants work in interdisciplinary teams to develop creative solutions and prototypes addressing real-world challenges submitted by industry partners – all supported by ZHAW experts and mentors from the field.

In collaboration with companies from the healthcare sector, participants explore pressing issues and co-create meaningful responses. Beyond building technical skills, the programme fosters interdisciplinary teamwork, encouraging diverse perspectives and mutual learning across fields.
‍

Programme Highlights:

• Challenge Definition: Partner companies present real-life challenges from the digital healthcare landscape.
• Team Engagement: Interdisciplinary teams collaborate to design and prototype customised solutions under expert guidance.
• Mentorship & Workshops: Participants benefit from one-to-one mentoring with industry specialists and skill-building workshops.
• Final Pitch Night: Teams present their innovations to an expert jury and industry leaders, receiving constructive feedback.

‍

How it works:

‍

__________________________________________________________

‍

Challenge 1: Clinical Data Extraction from PDF Reports

Students will develop an end-to-end system that analyzes PDF documents from cataract surgeries, extracting structured clinical information such as patient details, complications, and cataract classifications using Large Language Models (LLMs). The solution must address the variability of writing styles and formats in the reports and include a user interface for reviewing the results. Later stages include integrating the output into a curation platform.

‍

Challenge 2: The Future of Orthopedic Care

This challenge focuses on integrating Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) into clinical workflows to monitor patient recovery and outcomes after orthopedic procedures. Students will explore how PROMs can be used to track well-being, mobility, and pain, supporting value-based healthcare, shared decision-making, and improving care quality.

‍

‍Challenge 3: AI for Conflict Detection in Hospital Construction‍

Using real-world hospital construction data, students will build an AI-powered prototype that anticipates resource bottlenecks and conflicts during the realization phase. The tool will analyze BIM data and project schedules to improve the reliability and stability of construction planning and execution.

‍

Challenge 4a: Modernizing Asbestos Safety Information

The challenge aims to transform Suva’s asbestos publications into a modern, digital solution – interactive, mobile-friendly, and tailored to target groups. The goal is to improve prevention by making critical safety information more accessible and engaging.

‍

Challenge 4b: Smart Safety Challenge

The challenge aims to develop an AI-supported, data-driven tool that identifies construction projects likely to involve asbestos. By using predictive criteria and public data, the system should help Suva target inspections more effectively, reduce exposure risks, and optimize resources—despite legal limits on automated data sharing.

‍

Challenge 5: Smart Inventory Management in Healthcare

Tackle inefficiencies in medical inventory by designing a smart solution that addresses availability, overstock, and resource planning. Students will build a scalable prototype that fosters collaboration, leverages data, and modernizes outdated systems in hospitals and care facilities.

‍

Interested? Find out more about the individual challenges in the flyer linked below on our website.

The programme is open to BSc, MSc and PhD students, as well as postdocs, researchers and start-ups interested in health and technology from all faculties – both within and outside ZHAW.