07/01/2019

SensUs Newsletter December 2018

SensUs is up and running!

The preperations for SensUs 2019 are in full swing and new initiatives are up and running. The new SensUs organization is settled and is working on a next level edition. To keep you updated, here is our latest news!
We are proud to share the SensUs 2018 aftermovie with you

Aftermovie SensUs 2018

Biomarker Change

The biomarker for SensUs 2019 has been revised. Instead of etanercept, the biomarker that will be measured during SensUs 2019 is Adalimumab. This decision has been made in consultation with a group of experts. Adalimumab and Etanercept are both highly relevant biological drugs for treating Rheumatoid Arthritis, both functioning as anti-inflammatory agents that block TNF-alpha. However, the drugs differ considerably in their biosensing properties:
First, Adalimumab is a more stable molecule in comparison to Etanercept, which makes it easier to work with in detection assays.
Second, Adalimumab has a clear correlation between measured concentration and clinical effect, while a consensus is lacking for Etanercept. 
A third reason is the fact that Adalimumab is measured in many medical centers, while Etanercept is not.
So in the field of Rheumatoid Arthritis, we conclude that Adalimumab is the most suitable biomarker for SensUs 2019. We look forward to the innovative solutions for the biosensing of Adalimumab that will be realized by the international student teams!

Dutch Design Week

SensUs was invited to participate in the Dutch Design Week. This is the biggest design event in Northern Europe with a total of 300.000 visitors and over 2600 designers showing their latest works.
We had a stand at the exhibition ‘TU/e Research: Drivers of Change’ which focussed on new technological innovations for society. SensUs supports and stimulates new innovative biosensing solutions for personalized healthcare, so the Dutch Design Week was a perfect place to share our ideas!
On the last day of the Dutch Design Week, we closed ‘Mind the Story’, which is part of the ‘Mind the Step’ exhibition, with a presentation about SensUs and the future of healthcare. We explained what the SensUs competition is and how new biosensing technologies will be impactful for a lot of people.

SensUs at Dutch Design Week

Medica

We were present at the world’s largest medical trade fair MEDICA in Düsseldorf, which is visited by around 120,000 visitors and includes the internationally leading supplier trade fair COMPAMED. We spoke with several partners, had meetings with potential partners from all over the world and transferred the vision of SensUs to the industry.

SensUs at Medica

SensUs at High School Career Days

On the 13th and 14th of November, SensUs was present at the JetNet Career Days in Delft. During these days, 1500 High School students came by to have workshops from a variety of technology companies and organizations. We gave multiple workshops to promote our SensUs High Schools Project. We informed the students about biosensors and let them discuss the societal impact, the benefits for all concerned stakeholders, and the obstacles faced when developing a biosensor. We are happy to have inspired young students to join the SensUs High Schools Project!

SensUs at High School Career Days
SensUs at High School Career Days

Opening Innovation Space at TU/e

The SensUs Organization is a proud new member of the TU/e Innovation Space. TU/e Innovation Space is a community and facility that supports interdisciplinary hands-on education, engineering design and entrepreneurship. We attended the official opening, spoke to many people at our stand, and are looking forward to be a part of this new community together with other startups and student teams. 

Opening Innovation Space

New SensUs Initiatives

We are proud to announce the SensUs Strategy and Innovation group. This group of five full time members will be developing new long term SensUs initiatives and expand the SensUs network and activities. A brief introduction to two main initiatives that they will develop this year:

SensUs Connect
The SensUs Student Competition has a unique position in the field of biosensing as it brings students, companies and universities together on a worldwide scale. SensUs Connect aims to bring these stakeholders in contact with each other, to exchange information, projects and jobs and facilitate public-private partnerships. We have already launched Connect-like activities, such as the Meet the Partners event and the Partner Dinner during the contest event. In this project we want to expand the functionalities: anytime, face-to-face and online, between all stakeholders. 

SensUs Startups
The aim of SensUs Startups is to inspire, motivate and support SensUs student teams, university staff, and other people to create new startup companies in the field of biosensing. The support will involve topics such as experience sharing, education in patents and business models, network building and the analysis of healthcare applications. The goal is to make people turn early biosensing ideas into a first business plan, so that new initiatives become ready to enter support systems such as Accelerators and Incubators. The plan of SensUs Startups will be presented and discussed during the Innovation Days of SensUs 2019.