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The Rice360 Undergraduate Global Health Technologies Design Competition brought together undergraduate teams at the BioScience Research Collaborative on April 24 for a day focused on pragmatic health solutions. In its 16th annual edition, the event hosted 22 teams representing seven countries who presented prototypes and strategies intended to work where resources are constrained. Entrants ranged from engineering and public health undergraduates to multidisciplinary teams that framed problems with clinical input and local implementation in mind. Judges and mentors evaluated submissions on problem definition, technical viability and the potential for scalable impact in low- and middle-income settings, while the audience saw innovations spanning surgical tools, maternal diagnostics and neonatal screening.
The competition is run by the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies and is designed to push students to think beyond lab prototypes toward devices and systems that can be produced, maintained and adopted locally. Teams must demonstrate not only a functioning prototype but also supply-chain considerations, cost models and training approaches to ensure sustained use. This year’s entries included proposals that favored open-source documentation, local manufacture and reusability to reduce dependency on imported, single-use supplies. Mentors from medicine, engineering and global health offered rapid-fire feedback that emphasized user-centered design and long-term feasibility, reinforcing the program’s focus on translating ideas into field-ready technologies.
Standout projects and awards
Top three winners
The top prize went to Rice’s AGILE team for a low-cost uterine training model that improves hands-on education for endometrial biopsy procedures by integrating with an existing cervical cancer training platform. AGILE’s design uses locally available materials and a simple assembly approach to expand access to procedural training in clinics. Second place was awarded to Virginia Tech for a reusable surgical skin stapler engineered to shorten procedure times and offer a sterilizable alternative to disposable staples, complete with local staple production and a reloadable cartridge. Third place went to AnkleGlide from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, a device intended to restore circulation in immobilized patients to prevent dangerous thromboembolic events by promoting safe, passive movement in low-resource care settings.
Additional awardees and recognition
Beyond the podium, several teams received honors for focused innovations. Boston University’s MaternalScreen won the Crystal Sea Award for a diagnostic that enables single-visit diagnosis of pregnancy-related infections without refrigeration, addressing a common logistic barrier in many regions. Achievers University’s LumiCare earned the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award with an AI-powered neonatal jaundice screening platform that detects bilirubin-related yellowing from eye images and is tuned to perform across diverse populations. Rice’s Retinex received the Public Invention Incremental Improvement Award for a portable retinal screening tool, while Bangladesh University’s BioDrip captured the People’s Choice Award for a low-cost IV automation system. The Virginia Tech stapler also won the Public Invention Open Source Award, emphasizing transparency and reproducibility.
Design philosophy and real-world impact
Keynote speaker Dr. Joseph Lubega framed the day’s work within the larger context of global child health, stressing that innovation must be informed by unequal access and entrenched poverty. Rice360 co-director Rebecca Richards-Kortum presented Lubega with the 2026 Rice360 Innovation and Leadership Award before his talk, which called for projects that break cycles of disease and dependence. He urged students to prioritize sustainability, local ownership and long-term planning so technologies become assets rather than liabilities. Lubega’s message reinforced a guiding principle of the competition: successful global health design is as much about social systems and training as it is about mechanical or electronic performance.
Mentorship, evaluation and next steps
Throughout the event, teams received critique from clinicians, engineers and public health professionals who assessed not only the functionality of prototypes but also manufacturing pathways, sterilization strategies and user training. Judges looked for clear problem statements, feasible deployment plans and measurable outcomes. Many teams left with concrete next steps: field testing partnerships, regulatory guidance and proposals for local manufacturing. Participants noted that the contest’s structure—combining mentorship, iterative feedback and public presentation—helps bridge classroom learning with the messy realities of deploying a device in clinics that lack cold chains, sterilization capacity or supply budgets.
Looking ahead
Organizers say the competition’s aim remains steady: to empower undergraduates to build practical, scalable technologies that improve health outcomes where needs are greatest. The variety of projects this year—from open-source surgical tools to AI diagnostics—illustrates a shift toward solutions that are affordable, locally producible and designed with users in mind. As teams move toward pilot studies and partnerships, the lessons from Rice360 continue to highlight that thoughtful design, community engagement and an emphasis on sustainability are essential for turning student ingenuity into lasting global health impact.