Stanford Healthcare Innovation Project

Unlock Your Future

The Stanford Healthcare Innovation Project (SHIP) is a semester-long initiative that connects high school students, faculty, college campuses, and healthcare professionals to inspire innovation at the intersection of technology and healthcare. Through mentorship, exploratory learning, and real-world prototyping, SHIP empowers student teams to tackle pressing healthcare challenges and propose practical, innovative solutions.

SHIP Final Student Showcase

This year, 43 student teams across 7 Bay Area high schools presented innovative solutions to authentic, industry-driven biomedical engineering challenges. Watch the 2026 Student Showcase video, explore photos from the event, or view the Student Showcase Guide to learn more about the final projects and showcase experience.

2026 Student Showcase Video & Gallery

Why Join SHIP?

SHIP opens doors to STEM and healthtech careers for students across the Bay Area. It’s a chance to:

Tackle real-world healthcare challenges.
Collaborate with peers and mentors.
Engage with Stanford and industry innovators.

Students will gain:

Recognition from Stanford Health Care + Bay Area K16 Collaborative
A team-based project to showcase on resumes & college applications

Explore the Project Challenge Statements

Design a robotic system or device that assists patients in their rehabilitation process, particularly focusing on stroke recovery, physical therapy, or post-surgery rehabilitation.
Design a wearable device that continuously monitors vital signs and provides real-time data to healthcare providers, enhancing patient care and early detection of potential issues.
Design telemedicine solutions that enable patients to receive hospital-level care at home, focusing on remote monitoring, virtual consultations, and integrating home care with healthcare systems to improve patient outcomes and comfort.
Innovate a system or device that reduces the risk of hospital-acquired infections, with a focus on improving sterilization processes or developing antimicrobial surfaces.
Create a solution that enhances the security and privacy of patient data in healthcare settings, particularly in the context of increasing digitalization and data sharing.
Identify and implement strategies or technologies to streamline Operating Room processes, such as surgical instrument management or automated scheduling, aiming to reduce delays and optimize resource use.
This project focuses on developing, including but not limited to tech solutions like smart room controls or communication apps to enhance patient comfort, aiming to make hospital stays more pleasant and supportive.
Develop sustainability initiatives in healthcare, such as reducing waste or optimizing energy use, to make healthcare operations more environmentally friendly.
Explore AI applications in healthcare, such as predictive analytics or decision support tools, to improve patient outcomes through data analysis and machine learning.
Stanford is required to remain compliant with national requirements to ensure patient safety through medical device maintenance. Ensure PM schedules are auto-generated correctly. Flag any devices that are past due or have missed a PM cycle. Predictive metrics to show future PM schedule needs.

The submission period for this cycle has officially closed.

Submission Portal

Timeline

Launch Event

December 2025

Learn about ten project challenges.
Website launches with all needed resources to build a team and select a project to work on throughout the Spring.

Team Formation

January 2026

Teams and abstracts are due on January 16th.
Groups are paired with Stanford mentors and first meetings take place.

Designing and Prototyping

February 2026

Teams begin shaping early solution ideas into simple prototypes.
Monthly mentor meetings support narrowing to one concept and planning next steps.
Continue steady weekly team work toward building and refining the first version of the project.

Project Development Continues

March 2026

Teams test early prototypes, learn what works, and make improvements.
Mentor meetings guide adjustments and help teams strengthen their design.
Weekly work time focuses on iteration and preparing materials for final presentation development.

Final Student Showcase

April 2026

Teams finalize prototypes and complete their presentation materials. (All teams must create a physical poster presentation.)
School choose teams to be judged via preliminary showcase or other method (defer to individual teachers).
13 selected teams to present for judging at the culminating event, with all other teams attending to exhibit their work gallery style.
Final Student Showcase on April 28th from 9AM - 2PM at Alumni Green, Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto

Media

"It’s a reminder that innovation begins with curiosity — but it grows with opportunity. When we invest in outreach like this, we’re not just inspiring the next generation of biomedical engineers — we’re helping address a nationwide workforce gap in health care technology. These students could be tomorrow’s experts, and we’re proud to give them a head start at Stanford Health Care."

— Fred Hizal, SHC’s Manager for Innovation & Design Division
“It was a collective effort to put this together and we feel that it really highlighted the ‘teaching hospital’ aspect of SHC."

— Richard Engdahl, Senior Manager for Biomedical Engineering
"This project started with a single presentation to high school students and has grown into an international initiative that connects classrooms to real-world health care challenges."

— Stanford Healthcare Faculty