(Left to Right) Lilly Shui, Hannah Mock, Sarah Rundquist, William Ouyang and Lincoln Lam (Photo/Courtesy of Sarah Rundquist)
With time running out and other groups deep into prototyping, one group of USC Viterbi biomedical engineering students found themselves back at square one, having to scrap their original idea at 6 p.m. on Saturday, February 1st. With less than 24 hours left in the Make-A-Thon competition, they pivoted to a creative new concept: a knee sleeve paired with a game-like app to make pediatric physical therapy more engaging. By Sunday afternoon’s hard stop, their last-minute gamble had paid off; the team had won first place along with $150 per person.
This year’s winning team included juniors William Ouyang, Lincoln Lam, and Lilly Shui, as well as freshmen Sarah Rundquist and Hannah Mock, settled on a child’s knee sleeve with built-in sensors that connected to an app. The app uses a videogame-like reward system to motivate children to do their exercises, helping to ensure they complete them.
“When they called our team for first place at first, we sat there in shock. But after we realized that this was actually happening, we were all so excited,” said Rundquist.
The annual Make-A-Thon competition, held by the Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering (ASBME), a student-led biomedical engineering club, offers professional events, mentorship programs, community outreach events, technical workshops, and an annual Make-A-Thon competition. Club president Lauren Tomita – a senior biomedical engineering student with an electrical emphasis – described the event as a “Hack-a-Thon” for biomedical engineering students.
“The event is meant to give students the opportunity to apply the skills that they were using in class to a real-world problem that exists within the medical field or the medical community,” she said.
At the event, held over one weekend earlier this year, over 70 student competitors and 100 participants (counting mentors, judges, and those involved in planning) gathered to create a device to help knee injuries and athletes.
Groups of five to six students, a mix of upper and lowerclassmen, were presented with a prompt on Friday. This year, the prompt asked competitors to create a device to prevent, monitor, or treat the effects of chronic and acute knee injuries in athletes. Just two days later on Sunday evening, contestants presented a prototype of a unique solution to a panel of judges consisting of medical professionals and biomedical engineering professors.
“Students are judged on creativity of design, the actual manufacturing of their devices, and their presentation,” Tomita said.
Originally, the winning team chose to make a knee sleeve designed to help geriatric patients. More than a day into the competition, after getting negative feedback from an advisor, they decided to modify their idea.
“The time crunch pushed the team to work even harder,” said Rundquist, “We were up until three in the morning that night, working on getting the project done.”
Her teammate, Mock, believed their success came down to their distinctive approach. “What I think helped our team succeed the most was the fact that our product was just so much more unique than the other teams, being so software-oriented,” she said.
The team’s final prototype features three sensors. One flex sensor at the back of the knee detects when a patient’s knee bends. An ultrasonic sensor tracks the distance between the hamstring and the calf to measure the depth of movements. The third sensor uses a gyroscope to identify instabilities in the knee movements.
The sensors relay information to the app. Upon completion of physical therapy exercises, cosmetic rewards for an in-game character are unlocked. This was the main mechanism that incentivized users to complete their activities. The information could also be shared with doctors and physical therapists for their own use. Rundquist noted that most children struggle to consistently complete their physical therapy exercises, so having an app that provides reminders and incentives could make pediatric physical therapy much more effective.
While the Make-A-Thon gave the team a chance to showcase their creativity and technical skills, it also highlighted the broader opportunities ASBME offers to help students grow as innovators and problem-solvers. From mentorship programs to technical workshops, the club continues to provide a platform for students to apply their knowledge and make a real-world impact.
Published on April 30th, 2025
Last updated on May 5th, 2025
