Overall Timeline
All Dates and Times are in Pacific Time (PT).
Criteria and Expectations
Criteria
The aim of the Heart Hackathon is to promote and support student innovation in the cardiovascular engineering space. We work to have criteria that ensure the competition is fair for all participants and relevant to the overall competition vision.
Beyond this, we don’t want teams to be limited by our expectations imposed by design criteria.
Expectations
In the first years of the competition, the Organizers expect to see:
TAH pump designs that can deliver 5L/minute at appropriate systemic and pulmonary pressures (i.e. the flow rate and pressures to support a human)
Some unrefined and bulky bench-top prototypes
As teams progress each year, Organizers expect to see:
First-generation designs from previous years improved and refined.
Communication and Interaction with Organizing Committee
From the Organizers
Outgoing communications will be sent by the Heart Hackathon Organisers to the primary emails provided by teams during registration. This may be the team email, and/or the student lead’s email, and/or the team advisor's email.
Event announcements will be made via email and on our social media platforms.
The Heart Hackathon Organising Committee may be reached via email, through website queries, or via our social media platforms. We endeavour to respond to all queries within 72 hours.
Teams may arrange Zoom meetings with the Heart Hackathon Organizers if desired.
To the Organizers
Preferred form of contact with the Organizers is via our email address hearthackathon@ismcs.org or our Discord Server
The Heart Hackathon Organising Committee may be reached via email, through website queries, or via our social media platforms. We endeavour to respond to all queries within 72 hours.
Teams may arrange Zoom meetings with the Heart Hackathon Organizers if desired.
Before Registration
Team Eligibility and Demographics Requirements
Please review our Heart Hackathon Competition Guidelines and Intellectual Property Policy. Note: The supplementary guidelines referred to in the document is this webpage.
Requirements
To be eligible, teams must have:
A group of students (undergraduate, honours, and master's students) committed to designing and building a TAH within the competition time frame.
1-2 nominated student team leaders
1 nominated team liaison/representative *(see role description)
An academic advisor
No more than 20% PhD students
Only students from the home university campus **(see exceptions)
Note: There is no limit on the size of your team.
Role of Team Liason/Representative*
The Team Liaison plays a crucial role in managing communication between the team and the organizing committee, ensuring seamless logistical coordination, and maintaining compliance with event guidelines. This role allows the team to stay focused on internal tasks while the liaison handles external communication, updates, and requirements.
Key Responsibilities include:
Primary Contact: The team will act as the main point of contact between the team and the organizing committee. This ensures timely relay of announcements, rule clarifications, and event updates
Information Flow: The team must promptly communicate schedule changes, deadlines, and other critical updates to the team.
Requests & Coordination: The Team will be responsible for managing and coordinating any requests for additional resources or assistance from the organizers.
Final Deliverables: The Team will oversee submitting the team’s project, code, documentation, and other materials, ensuring compliance with hackathon submission guidelines.
Judging Coordination: The Team must work with the organizing committee on judging schedules and criteria, ensuring the team is well-prepared for presentations or demos accordingly.
Mentor/Advisor Interaction: The Team will be responsible of facilitating and arranging meetings with mentors and advisors to ensure the team benefits from available guidance and support.
Exceptions**
If a university has another campus in another country, they may form a separate team.
If a university has another campus within the same country, the formation of a separate team will be approved on a case-by-case basis. (Contact us: hearthackathon@ismcs.org)
Time Frame Considerations
Teams may continue to recruit and change throughout the competition. We understand that institutions don't have the same schedule, so recruitment is different for everyone.
Please keep the organizers up to date on any major team changes (e.g. new team leads, academic advisor, and nominated liaison)
Ensure the team doesn’t excede 20% PhD students
Individual demographic forms are …..
Students are permitted to be part of a team, even if they graduate during the competition. They may stay involved with the team for a maximum of 12 months, to facilitate handover and for presenting at events (such as the Grand Final)
Recommendations on How to Recruit a Team and Get Started
Recruitment is independently run by each organisation. Teams need to manage their own recruitment.
It is recommended that teams have interdisciplinary students from a variety of fields, e.g. engineering, biomedical, science, medicine, commerce, business, marketing, etc. Teams will need great project managers, technical experts (e.g., engineers), and business experts (e.g., business and commerce) to achieve the best outcomes.
Scientific Overview: Provides an overview of the problem of heart failure, relevant biology, and the existing mechanical circulatory support landscape and ongoing challenges and limitations with total artificial hearts. This document can be found here.
Case Studies: Examples of how previous years’ competing teams approached the competition can be found here. You can also learn more about all teams here.
Marketing Material:
Featuring your Team: We encourage all teams to provide us with a Team Bio, Team Photo and Logo within the 2026 Team Entry Form to share on our website and social media. Throughout the year, we encourage your team to tag us and email us (hearthackathon@ismcs.org) major news, photos, and videos for us to promote your team. Each year, we also ask teams to create a short team video that we can use to promote your team and the competition as a whole. We ask for these short eam videos to be provided to us by the end of July. We are also happy to have a meeting with teams to discuss how to go about marketing and team recruitment. You can reach out to us via email (hearthackathon@ismcs.org).
Registration
Overview
Submit the 2026 Team Entry Form by February 27th 11:59 pm PT (the sooner the better)
Completion of demographics forms (by each participating team member) and guardian consent form (by each participating team member who is a minor) by the Preliminary Report Deadline of April 17th 11:59 pm PT (the sooner the better)
Pay the ISMCS Membership Entry Fee by the Preliminary Report Deadline of April 17th 11:59 pm PT
Step 1: 2026 Team Entry Form (one submission per team)
Deadline: February 27th 11:59 pm PT (the sooner the better)
Link: here
What is required?
Team Details
Advisor Details
Student Leads Details (max 2)
Nominated Team Liaison Details (as main point of contact with Heart Hackathon Organising Committee)
Sponsorship Disclosure
Team photo (optional) and team logo (optional) for public display on our website and social media
Once Submitted:
Teams will be added to our mailing lists
Teams will be invited to our private events and get access to past event recordings
Teams will receive software access from our sponsors: MathsWorks MATLAB, Ansys, and Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS
Teams will receive access to our advisors
Teams will be invited to have a meeting with the Heart Hackathon Organising Committee to discuss questions about the competition and how best we can support you
Step 2: Individual Demographics and Guardian Consent Form (for each participating team member)
We strongly encourage teams to have completed sufficient member recruitment before the Preliminary Report Deadline. However, teams do not need to have all members confirmed. Teams may continue to recruit/change throughout the competition, as we understand every institution has a different schedule. We will ask again at the Final Report Deadline (September 4th 11:59 pm PT) for submission of the individual demographics form for any new members that joined since the Preliminary Report submission.
Deadline: Preliminary Report Deadline of April 17th 11:59 pm PT (the sooner the better)
Link: here
What is required?
General individual’s information
Completion of Virtonomy’s v-Patient Software Access Permission Form (Optional)
Completion of Guardian Consent Form for Minors
Once Submitted:
Individuals will be added to our mailing lists
Individuals will receive access to our Private Content page to view past event recordings and access to all events
Individuals will receive software access for Virtonomy v-Patient
Step 3: Entry Fee
Deadline: Preliminary Report Deadline of April 17th 11:59 pm PT
Entry Fee - ISMCS Membership
To participate in this competition, each team will be required to register for a single ISMCS Heart Hackathon Team Membership (i.e. one membership per participating team). This is an annual entry fee of $750 USD to compete in the current year’s Heart Hackathon competition.
To be successfully registered for the competition, teams should submit proof of membership purchase with their first Preliminary Report assessment submission.
What does the Entry Fee Cover?
This fee is a Heart Hackathon Team Membership for our partner organization the International Society for Mechanical Circulatory Support (ISMCS). It includes individual ISMCS membership and its associated benefits to all participating students.
This fee goes directly into supporting the running of the competition. This includes:
In-Person Grand Finals venue hire and catering
Funding support for Heart Hackathon Organising Committee
Prizes
Miscellaneous operations costs (e.g. website, access to graphic design tools, etc.)
Within the Heart Hackathon Competition, teams will receive:
Access to our private webinars and recordings
Software access from our sponsors: Virtonomy v-Patients, MathsWorks MATLAB, Ansys, and Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS
Assessment and feedback from our Preliminary Report, Total Artificial Heart Symposium, Final Report and Final Presentation
Access to our advisors
Marketing: placement on our website and social media accounts, opportunities for mini-interviews and case studies, and support in creating promotional videos/posts.
The fee does not cover ISMCS conference registration, which is required for each student planning on attending the in-person Grand Finals.
Purchasing ISMCS Membership
Go to the ISMCS Membership Page and press “BECOME A MEMBER or RENEW MEMBERSHIP”
Select either Renew Membership (for returning teams) or Join ISMCS (for new teams) and pick the “Heart Hackathon Team $750.00” option from the drop-down menu.
In “Notes about this order”, include the following information:
Heart Hackathon - “Team Name:”, University, Country
Advisor Member Name and Email
Student Leads (max 2) Name and Email
Nominated Team Liaison Name and Email
Following the listed instructions within the membership portal and pay
Proof of this payment is due with your Preliminary Report Submission.
Assessment
Deadlines for Submissions
Please refer to the above timeline and the following specifics on assessments.
Written Assessments
Written assessment deadlines are advertised at the start of the competition.
Any teams that are late to submit assessments must contact the Organizers (hearthackathon@ismcs.org) to get approval for the submission.
The Heart Hackathon Organizers understand that, as a global competition, there are many time zones and university schedules to accommodate. The Organizers aim to cater for this by providing a relatively broad 24hr submission window for teams to submit their assessments.
Presentations
Presentation dates are approximately advertised at the start of the competition, and will be confirmed closer to the date.
The Total Artificial Heart Symposium requires Zoom presentations. These presentations will be scheduled in accordance with time zone requirements.
The Grand Final presentations are presented in person at the Grand Final event in conjunction with ISMCS 2026. An agenda will be provided to teams before the event.
Preliminary Report (The First Assessment)
Weight: 0%
This report does not contribute towards the final competition marks. However, Grand Final invitations are reserved for high-quality submissions.
Due Date: April 17th 11:59 pm PT, 2026
Note: Failure to submit the Preliminary Report will result in teams being de-registered from the year’s competition.
Format: Written Report
Purpose:
To assess the teams’ progress and proposed work.
To evaluate the sufficiency of support provided by an academic advisor.
To collect demographic data of the competing team.
Requirements:
Completion of the Registration Section, which includes:
Confirmed Team Leads, Academic Advisor and Nominated Team Liaison via 2026 Team Form
Confirmed team members via the Demographics Form
Confirmation/Receipt of ISMCS Group Membership.
Overall demographics data of the competing time
Completed Report (as per template below).
Resources:
Preliminary Report Guidelines [2026] - Draft Only, still in development
Preliminary Report Rubric [2026] - Draft Only, still in development
Feedback & Marks:
Written feedback will be provided via email with the attached rubric by June 8th, 2026.
Preliminary Assessment Feedback and Competition Planning Meetings to discuss overall feedback with assessors are planned for June/July. Please see the Upcoming Events Calendar for specific dates.
TAH Symposium Presentation
Weight: 0%
This presentation does not contribute towards the final competition marks. However, Grand Final invitations are reserved for high-quality submissions.
Due Date: To facilitate different time zones, this event will run in 3 sessions.
Note: Teams and dates to be confirmed; this is a draft schedule.
TAH Symposium Part 1 (Asia-Pacific): May 19th, 12:00 am - 1:30 am PT, 2026
UC Biomed, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Monash Heart Hack, Monash University, Australia
Mending Broken Hearts, University of New South Wales, Australia
QUT Heartbeats, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Mahidol CardiaTech, Mahidol University, Thailand
TAH Symposium Part 2 (UK and North America): June 2nd, 9:00 am - 10:30 am PT, 2026
Team Bath Heart, Bath University, UK
Durham Heart, Durham University, UK
LUMedTech, Lancaster University, UK
Alberta Heart, Alberta University, Canada,
UC Irvine, USA
CBU Cardiac Engineering, California Baptist University, USA
TAH Symposium Part 3 (Europe and Egypt): June 4th, 7:00 am - 8:30 am PT, 2026
AUC Peribsen, American University in Cairo, Egypt
KTaH, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Vienna HeartLab, University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien, Austria
Cure-C, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
MAVIS Artificial Heart, Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie „Grigore T. Popa” Iași, Romania
Format: Online presentation (Zoom)
7.5 minutes presentation
2.5 minutes Q&A
Resources:
TAH Symposium Guidelines [2026] - Draft Only, still in development
TAH Symposium Rubric [2026] - Draft Only, still in development
Recordings of 2024 and 2025 TAH Symposium Presentations can be found here (password provided after submission of the 2026 Team Entry Form).
Purpose:
Opportunity for teams to practise their presentation skills, including scientific communication and IP protection.
Dedicated time for feedback and discussion with assessors within the session.
Requirements:
Prepared presentation.
Feedback & Marks:
Feedback will be provided within the same Zoom session, via discussion with assessors.
Written feedback will be provided via email with the attached rubric by June 8th, 2026.
Preliminary Assessment Feedback and Competition Planning Meetings to discuss overall feedback with assessors are planned for June/July. Please see the Upcoming Events Calendar for specific dates.
Final Report
Weight: 60%
Due Date: September 4th 11:59 pm PST, 2026
Format: Written Report
Purpose: To demonstrate the team’s research progress and findings in a professionally written report.
Requirements:
Completed Report (as per template below).
Resources:
Final Report Guidelines [2026] - Draft Only, still in development
Final Report Marking Rubric [2026] - Draft Only, still in development
Feedback & Marks:
Written feedback will be provided via email with the attached rubric by October 5th, 2026.
Final Presentation (Grand Final)
Weight: 40%
Due Date: October 21st, 2026
Format: In-person presentation by invitation only (sent on June 8th, 2026) based on Preliminary Report and Total Artificial Heart Symposium Presentation. The Grand Final occurs in conjunction with ISMCS 2026 in Suzhou, China. The Final Presentation includes both an oral presentation with slides and a poster presentation. Further details are provided in the resources below.
Purpose: To demonstrate the team’s research progress and findings in a professional conference presentation.
Requirements:
Please note that conference registration is required to attend the Heart Hackathon Grand Final (Suzhou, China). The ISMCS Heart Hackathon Team Membership does not cover conference registration, but enables all students to be ISMCS members and access ISMCS members’ rates for conference registration. Finalists are then welcome and encouraged to stay for the rest of the ISMCS conference following the Grand Final Event.
Prepared presentation (as per guidelines below).
Finalists will be asked to bring their device (if feasible).
Finalists will NOT be required to give a live demonstration of their device. Video footage of their device in action is encouraged.
Resources:
Final Presentation Guidelines [2026] - Draft Only, still in development
Final Presentation Marking Rubric [2026] - Draft Only, still in development
Recordings of 2025 Final Presentations can be found here (password provided after submission of the 2026 Team Entry Form).
Feedback & Marks:
Written feedback will be provided via email and the attached rubric after the Grand Final.
Note: If your team cannot attend the in-person Grand Finals, we cannot accommodate a hybrid format on the day, and your team will be ineligible for Grand Final Prizes. However, in collaboration with your team, we will explore the option of hosting a virtual symposium event (in the scenario, a few teams cannot attend) or storing a recording of your presentation within our private webpage.
Prizes
Financial Prizes
Only teams that attend the Grand Finals Event in-person are eligible for Prizes.
The Heart Hackathon is thrilled to be able to offer monetary prizes to our winning teams to support them in their future research.
In 2026, the Heart Hackathon offers:
Overall Awards: These are based on the Final Report and Presentation, which are worth 60% and 40% respectively.
1st place: $1500 USD
2nd: $800 USD
3rd: $400 USD
Bonus prizes are subject to availability, under assessors’ discretion. Previously, these have included:
Most Novel Device and Most Advanced Device: Combination of Final Report Marking Rubric and Grand Final Judges’ deliberation
Best Newcomer Team: Awarded based on the highest scoring team that is participating for the first time
Best Address Challenge Statement: Within the Final Report and Presentation Marking Rubrics are marks allocated towards this year’s challenge statement. Highest scoring team is awarded.
Most Developed Business Plan: Combination of Final Report Marking Rubric and Grand Final Judges’ deliberation
Payment
Prizes will be paid to winning teams after the Grand Final event. The Heart Hackathon Organizers will be in touch with the winning teams to complete the transaction.
Support and Resources during the Competition
Upcoming Events and Recordings
Throughout the competition, the Heart Hackathon Organizers will host various online events, such as educational workshops, industry events, and team presentations. These events aim to provide participants with key information and guidance to support them in the competition.
You can view past event recordings and resources here for public events and here for private events (password provided after submission of the 2026 Team Entry Form).
Upcoming events can be found here.
Public Events
Event attendance is not compulsory for competing teams, but is highly recommended
Our public educational content will be recorded for later viewing.
Our events are open access and free, so anyone may attend.
Private Events
Some events will be private, restricted to competing teams only.
Some events require presentations by the competing teams to other teams and industry reviewers.
Other events may include exclusive content provided by our competition Sponsors.
These events may provide opportunities for engagement with industry members and academics, which will be limited to registered team members.
These events may be recorded for private viewing by the teams, or not recorded. Organizers will inform attendees which of these is the case before the event.
Advisors
As part of participating in the Heart Hackathon Competition, competing teams may book consultation sessions with advisors to aid their research. Our advisors are subject matter experts across various topics of the competition, and have volunteered their time ot the Heart Hackathon Competition.
Advisor Booking Link (password provided after submission of the 2026 Team Entry Form)
Software Access
We provide access to the following software:
v-Patient - Virontomy Software
Ansys
Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS
MathWorks MATLAB
v-Patient software access can be obtained after completion of the individual demographics form. Other software access instructions are found here (password provided after submission of the 2026 Team Entry Form).
Learning from Other Teams
Case Studies: Examples of how previous years’ competing teams approached the competition can be found here.
Competing Team Profiles: You can also learn more about all teams here and watch their intro videos here.
Total Artificial Heart Symposium and Final Presentations: You can view past teams’ oral presentations here (password provided after submission of the 2026 Team Entry Form).
Upcoming Events: Hear from 2025 winning teams in our “Heart Hackathon Closing Event: 2025 Reflections, 2026 Visions” and alumni in our “Careers Panel” events. Further details can be found here.
Networking with Teams: During the competition, you will have the opportunity to interact with other teams in the following ways:
Join our Discord server to chat with Heart Hackathon Organisers and other competing teams
After presentations in the Total Artificial Heart Symposium, teams will be paired and placed into breakout rooms to chat and learn from each other.
Networking activities during the in-person Grand Finals e.g. Morning/Afternoon Tea Culture Exchange, Heart Hackathon Finals Dinner, and Heart Hackathon Feedback Workshop
Contact us (hearthackathon@ismcs.org or Discord) to help facilitate a virtual or in-person meeting with other teams.
Promotion of Your Team
Marketing Material:
Featuring your Team: We encourage all teams to provide us with a Team Bio, Team Photo and Logo within the 2026 Team Entry Form to share on our website and social media. Throughout the year, we encourage your team to tag us and email us (hearthackathon@ismcs.org) major news, photos, and videos for us to promote your team. Each year, we also ask teams to create a short team video that we can use to promote your team and the competition as a whole. We ask for these short eam videos to be provided to us by the end of July. We are also happy to have a meeting with teams to discuss how to go about marketing and team recruitment. You can reach out to us via email (hearthackathon@ismcs.org).
Additional Resources
Scientific Overview: Provides an overview of the problem of heart failure, relevant biology, and the existing mechanical circulatory support landscape and ongoing challenges and limitations with total artificial hearts. This document can be found here.
Competition Guidelines and Regulations