Congratulations to WIMR’s Translational Transplantation Therapies team who recently won the Sydney University Sprint to Create competition.
The Sprint to Create initiative is a joint effort between the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Medicine and Health, ultimately awarding a $150,000 grant to support the development of new treatments for disease.
Close to 50 teams competed in this innovative competition, and five teams won $20,000 along with the opportunity to further develop their projects and present their prototypes in the finals competition.
The winning pitch was “Improving Marginal Organs Using Machine Perfusion, Microbubbles and Ultrasonography”, presented by Dr Rajith Amaratunga and led by Professor Wayne Hawthorne. Professor Hawthorne’s team were named winners of the 2024 Sprint to Create competition and were given a further $150,000 to continue their program in 2025.
The judges unanimously praised the extremely innovative, high quality of the projects, noting the strong technical foundations of each project and the amazing translational aspects of the projects.
Professor Ken-Tye Yong, a member of the Sprint to Create steering committee said of the winning WIMR-led project, “It represents a critical step forward in bridging healthcare gaps through innovative solutions. The synergy between health sciences and engineering offers a powerful model for addressing complex challenges through interdisciplinary teamwork.”
The success of this event underscores the growing enthusiasm and need for collaboration in healthcare innovation and showcases the amazing work being undertaken by several winning teams based at WIMR.

Photo credit: Nicola Bailey
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