About the Education Hackathon
The Huffington Department of Education, Innovation and Technology is excited to host the annual BCM Education Hackathon.
Kickoff Data, Time and Place: March 4, 2026 at noon on Teams and Collaborative Learning Lab N104
What is an Educational Hackathon?
The concept of a “hackathon” originates from the technology and software industry where teams compete in short bursts of time to create innovative products. The Education Hackathon is a creative “spin” on this format and an opportunity to bring together members of the BCM community who compete in teams to develop innovative ideas that address real challenges in medical education and advance health professions training.
Benefits for Participating:
- Collaborating with colleagues
- The opportunity to apply for $25,000 in funding for your innovative project
- Disseminating your ideas with other innovation-minded individuals
- Real-world testing of potential projects
Key Dates:
- April 10 - Pre-application submission deadline
- April 27 - Team notification of advancement to Pitch Day
- May 21 - Pitch Day event
Who is Eligible to Apply?
Teams can consist of faculty, students, and staff, as well as external collaborations. A BCM faculty member must serve as team lead and register the team.
Refer to our Hackathon Entry Form Rubric for details on how the committee evaluates entries.
Interested in learning more? Contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Kickoff event occurs approximately two months before the actual Pitch Day. It is an opportunity to gain motivation from a key speaker, explore potential teams and ideas, and ask questions about Hackathon logistics.
Anyone (staff, students, faculty) can participate in the Hackathon as part of a Hackathon team.
Only faculty can serve as a Hackathon team lead.
Teams must have a designated faculty lead to be eligible for IRB approval and funding. Otherwise, there are no other eligibility requirements.
Hackathon pitches are between 5–7 minutes long, depending upon the number of teams that are participating.
Hackathon judges are selected by the Hackathon planning committee based on defined criteria:
- Judges must be experienced educators with expertise in diverse topics, including medical education, clinical practice, curriculum development, or other areas relevant to potential Hackathon pitches
- Selected judges must represent different career levels and both campuses (Houston and Temple)
Judging of Hackathon pitches is based on 3 metrics:
- Problem approach
- Addresses stated problem
- Educational theory-based
- Adequacy of current solutions
- People
- Member expertise
- Composition quality
- Stakeholder representation
- Product
- Clarity
- Innovation
Previous Winners
2025
1st place: “Better Than Reviewer 2,” led by Ariel Lyons-Warren, with team members Daniel Gorelick, Megumi Seese, and Evelin Young.
2nd place: “Clinical Skills Simulator,” led by Christopher Hovorka, with team members Ashley Mullen, Amandi Rhett, Jeremy Sherman, Claudia Archer, Stefany Crosby, Marcia Omalley, Shane King, and Kyra Stovicek.
2024
Winner: Matthew L. Blank
Team Name: Peas in a Pod
Team: Alana Newell, Katherine Harris, Lollie Garay, Jimmie Thomas, Rihana Bokhari, Christian Campos
2023
Winner: Sarah-Ann Keyes
Team Name: Financially Responsible and Equitable Education (FREE)
Team Members: Ashley Mullen, Aimee Gardner, Fred Pereira, Jessica Thompson
2022
Winner: Farzad Soleimani
Team Name: Telemedicine (IPT) for Undergraduate Medical Students
Team Members: Roxanna Khozein Carrera, Sarah Bezek, Anisha Turner, Kathryn Fisher, Christopher Brann, Benjamin Solder, Anjay Batra