Games4Health 2016 Winners Announced by the Sorenson Center for Discovery & Innovation at the Eccles School

Annual Games4Health Challenge awards prizes to students who develop digital games and apps that address health issues

SALT LAKE CITY--()--Games4Health at the Sorenson Center for Discovery & Innovation in The University of Utah David Eccles School of Business celebrates the achievements of student teams that competed in this year’s challenge. On March 31, Games4Health hosted a public Arcade that showcased nearly two dozen of the 70 innovative games designed and developed by students. That evening, a Gala honored all the winners and welcomed Michael Fergusson, CEO of Ayogo, as he discussed the positive impact digital games can have on health and wellness.

This year’s competition focused on five challenges including corporate wellness, happy fitness, clinical health, chronic diseases, and adolescent mental well-being. A total of 121 teams and 300 students from across the world came together to create innovative gaming solutions that impact health through successful behavioral change. Competitive teams came from 18 states, 71 universities and 12 countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, Portugal, South Korea, and others. Games4Health represents a global effort to deliver health through consumer technologies of our day.

The $5,000 first place winners for this year’s five challenges are:

   

Happy Fitness Challenge

Sponsored by SocialWellth

  OnTrack   Carengie Mellon University
Corporate Wellness Challenge

Sponsored by MetLife

  Renaissance Astronaut   University of Utah

Arizona State University

Clinical Health Challenge

Sponsored by GE Healthcare

  MediGarden   University of Utah
Chronic Disease Challenge

Sponsored by Regence - Utah

  Carb Commander   University of Utah
Adolescent Mental Wellbeing

Sponsored by iThirve

  ShapeQuest   University of Amsterdam
 

The 14 other second place ($2,500), third place ($1,000), and ‘best of’ ($1,000) winners came from Abertay University, Bradley University, Brigham Young University, University of New Brunswick, University of Texas Health Science Center, University of Utah and Washington State University.

Games4Health was made possible this year by generous title sponsors SocialWellth and MetLife and challenge sponsors iThrive, Regence – Utah, and GE Healthcare. Their support and shared vision have brought the Games4Health community together to make a lasting impact in the lives of students.

Keynote by Michael Fergusson

During the Games4Health Gala, Michael Fergusson, CEO of Ayogo Health Inc., offered his experience and wisdom from a career of gamifying patient engagement. He highlighted the counterintuitive nature of today’s healthcare delivery and the unique ability for games to drive natural behavioral change and achieve improved health. More details on winners and a recording of the Gala with Michael Fergusson’s keynote address can be found at g4h.business.utah.edu.

Contacts

David Eccles School of Business
Pete Codella, 801-587-8365
APR
Pete.Codella@Eccles.Utah.edu
or
Method Communications
Spencer Parkinson, 801-461-9767
spencer@methodcommunications.com

Contacts

David Eccles School of Business
Pete Codella, 801-587-8365
APR
Pete.Codella@Eccles.Utah.edu
or
Method Communications
Spencer Parkinson, 801-461-9767
spencer@methodcommunications.com