REGINA, Sask. — University of Regina students are putting their classroom skills to the test, developing solutions to real-world health-care challenges during Saskatchewan's first interdisciplinary Health Tech Innovation Challenge.
"One of the underlying tenets of this is that interdisciplinary is the way to win," said Colin Savage, director of the university's Graduate Advanced Training and Entrepreneurship (GATE) Centre, which is hosting the two-day competition.
Savage said teams were intentionally designed to bring together students from different academic backgrounds, including business, economics, engineering, nursing, social work and psychology.
He said while many organizations focus on specialization and developing deep expertise in particular fields, complex problems often require a broader range of perspectives.
"The world doesn't work that way. The world is an interdisciplinary place," Savage said.
The event began Friday and concludes Saturday, bringing together undergraduate and graduate students from across the university and its federated colleges.
Working in multidisciplinary teams, participants spend two days researching challenges, developing ideas and prototyping potential solutions, with guidance from industry professionals and graduate nursing students with subject expertise.
GATE events and special projects specialist Ashley Dennison said the competition gives students an opportunity to see how the skills they're developing in the classroom can translate into the workforce.
"This is a good way for students to understand that you can have a side hustle, you can work on side projects, and consult in different ways of problem solving," Dennison said.
She said health technology was selected as the focus to connect the competition with real-world issues facing the province.
"We really tried to focus our questions from what was said in house to really showcase the real-world experience and what they're gonna be taking away from the classroom," she said.
Dennison said the experience also gives students an opportunity to showcase their abilities outside the traditional classroom setting and potentially pursue opportunities beyond their studies.
The challenge is being held in partnership with Deloitte, BDM Healthware Inc., the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation and McKercher LLP.
Student presentations are scheduled for Saturday afternoon, with winners expected to be announced at 4:30 p.m.
