We are a small but ambitious student association on a mission to build a Total Artificial Heart prototype. Our goal is to challenge existing solutions, rethink what’s possible, and grow into better scientists and engineers, all on the road to the Heart Hackathon competition.
Why this matters
Necessity
With the increase in population and rising heart disease, the shortage of donor hearts remains a critical bottleneck. Thousands of patients urgently need heart transplants, yet many don’t survive long enough to receive one, or become too ill to be eligible.
Innovation
While functioning Total Artificial Heart (TAH) systems already exist, their use remains limited because implantation requires very complex open-heart surgery, device and procedure costs are steep, and patient selection criteria are very strict. Improvements like enhancing blood–device compatibility and reducing costs are essential to broaden access to this lifesaving technology.
Hope
Advances in Total Artificial Heart technology do more than save lives when no donor is available — they restore emotional resilience to families and communities living in fear of sudden loss, often while confined to hospitals and powerless to help.
About the Heart Hackathon
The Heart Hackathon is the world's first total artificial heart design competition for students. Every year, university teams design and build their own total artificial heart, document it in a technical report and present it at the grand final. The final moves around the world with the annual conference of the International Society for Mechanical Circulatory Support (ISMCS): Dallas, USA (2023), Utsunomiya, Japan (2024), Vienna, Austria (2025) and Suzhou, China (2026). In 2026, 17 teams from 11 countries take part: Australia, Austria, Canada, Egypt, New Zealand, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. CURE-C is the team from ETH Zurich, and the only one from Switzerland.
The Timeline
Mini-Hackathon - interested in joining us?
On 14 November we're hosting a one-day Mini-Hackathon, and it's how new members join CURE-C. You'll work in small groups with current team members on real problems from our total artificial heart project. It's a day to get to know each other, learn from one another and find out what interests you most. This is not a job interview, and there's no pressure. We want to find out whether the team is a good fit for you just as much as the other way round.