UNSW Bionic Heart

UNSW Bionic Heart (UBH) - established in 2022 as UNSW Mending Broken Hearts (MBH) - is a student-led engineering initiative developing a total artificial heart that competes in the world's first Artificial Heart design challenge: the Heart Hackathon.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. In Australia alone, around 170 people are hospitalised for heart failure every day, yet only around 105 heart transplants are performed each year. Our mission is to bridge this gap, accelerate innovation in the field and contribute to the next generation of life-saving healthcare.

In 2026, our team is supervised by Dr Audrey Adji, a Research Fellow at St Vincent's Health Australia, and Professor Bernard Kornfeld, our Professor of Practice. We have 4 technical sub-teams (Biocompatibility, Electrical, Mechanical and Software) working directly on the development of our prototype, and 3 business teams (Events, Marketing and Sponsorships) supporting the project with marketing, events, and sponsorships.

This project is open to students across the university!

VIP ChallENG research goals

UBH's core research goal is to develop a functional total artificial heart (TAH) prototype capable of sustaining life as a bridge or alternative to heart transplantation. The team focuses on solving key engineering challenges in rotary pump design, biocompatibility, power delivery, and precision control - with the ambition of advancing TAH technology toward real-world clinical viability.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages: SDG3
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation: SDG9
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development: SDG17

Key Activities & Projects

2026 Design Overview

● Developing and testing novel rotary undulation pump design

● CFD validation

● Transcutaneous Energy Transfer system for Power

● Electromagnetic drive design

● PCB/FPGA design

● Ansys validation

● Precision control of rotating disk with magnetic levitation

● Designing biocompatible materials to prevent thrombosis and haemolysis

● Allowing for scalable manufacture

● Scanning electron microscopy of anodised samples

● Optimising User Interface

● Creating a Clinical and Patient App

● Cybersecurity

ChallENG Area

Vertically Integrated Projects

Research Areas

Research:

Understand the design history of total artificial hearts.
Understand the physiological requirements of artificial circulation.
Identify pros and cons of previous designs for smart hearts.
Identify medical issues with current devices.
Identify human factor issues with current devices.
Identify social issues with patient cohort.

Design:

Identify stakeholders
Identify user needs (patients, clinicians, surgeons etc).
Create designs for
Artificial Heart
User interface
Documentation
Training program
Patient support groups.

Technical:

Using simulation, CAD, and 3-D printing to make prototypes.
Test prototypes on a bench top simulation.

Business:

Develop a business proposal and pitch to raise project funds

Humanities, Arts and Social Science:

Activities to improve clinical understanding of device.
Activities to improve patient wellbeing

Join this team for
Desired skills
Engineering Professional Practice
Recent Highlights & Partnerships

Credit

✔ 6 UoC per course

HOW IT WORKS

Professional Development

•   Teamwork
•   Leadership
•   Design
•   Communication
•   Integrity
•   Innovation and excellence
•   Diversity
•   Respect
•   Resilience

UBH welcomes students across engineering and business disciplines. Relevant backgrounds include:

Technical: Mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, software/embedded systems, materials science, computational fluid dynamics, medicine, etc.

Business: Marketing, sponsorship and partnerships, events management, science communication, entrepreneurship, etc.

No prior experience with cardiac devices is required, curiosity, commitment, and a collaborative mindset are what matter most.

Conditions apply to receive Engineering Professional Practice for Vertically Integrated Projects. You will need to apply via the Student Portal for this Project before you commence so the days can count towards your Engineering Professional Practice (EPP) program requirement (maximum 30 days). Being a member of a VIP team does not guarantee that you will receive a Engineering Professional Practice placement and should not be the only motivating factor for joining a team.

Applications for Engineering Professional Practice are accepted during a student’s first term of enrolment in the VIP course. Students must complete a ChallENG Employer Evaluation form. Days will only be counted once the student has completed the VIP Course. Students must provide evidence of completion.

**Note – if students drop out of the course, no days will be counted.

Heart Hackathon

The Heart Hackathon is the world's first Total Artificial Heart (TAH) design competition, held alongside the International Conference of Mechanical Circulatory Support (ISMCS), involving 450+ students from 15+ teams. Last year the team claimed 1st Place in the Finals in Vienna, gaining direct exposure to leading doctors, engineers, researchers, students and industry partners in mechanical circulatory support.

In addition, UBH has proudly secured 1st place in the VIP Pitch Competition at the UNSW Education Festival for 2 consecutive years (2023 & 2024), demonstrating our technical rigour and academic focus.