Design Forum: Mock Circulation Loop

The webinar kickstarted with a 30-minute webinar led by Dr. Andrew Stephens from QUT. Following the webinar, participants engaged in breakout room discussions, where student teams shared their progress, challenges, and seek advice from peers, Heart Hackathon alumni, and experts, including Dr. Stephens and Gloria Zörnack from Virtonomy. Breakout topics ranged from CAD and CFD to design requirements and v-Patient software, fostering collaboration across international teams working on mechanical circulatory support innovations.

Dr. Andrew Stephens is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering & Robotics at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and the Director of the Advanced Cardiorespiratory Engineering Laboratory (ACE Lab). His research focus incliudes the development of smart medical devices, artificial intelligence applications in emergency medicine, and artificial heart-lung therapies. Dr. Stephens is actively involved in supervising PhD projects that aim to create real-world impact, such as improving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) feedback devices and enhancing diagnostic tools for cardiovascular diseases. He is committed to advancing biomedical engineering through interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation .​