UTM HealthTech Research Society (HTRS) is a student-led club that brings together students interested in healthcare, technology, research, and innovation.
HTRS is open to students from a wide range of backgrounds, including health sciences, life sciences, computer science, statistics, data science, social sciences, and related fields. No previous research or technical experience is required to join.
A major part of HTRS is its interdisciplinary cohort program. Students work in teams and are given a health-tech problem or challenge to explore throughout the year. Rather than looking at the problem from only one perspective, cohorts analyze it from different angles, including the healthcare need, existing research and technology, available data, feasibility, ethics, accessibility, limitations, and potential real-world impact. Students from different programs can bring their own strengths to the same problem and learn how different disciplines approach healthcare challenges.
From there, cohorts can develop their own direction and ideas. Depending on the project, teams may conduct research, analyze existing solutions, develop recommendations, work with data, design a potential solution, or build an early-stage health-tech prototype. HTRS gives students the flexibility to be creative while still encouraging thoughtful, evidence-based work.
Throughout the year, members can also take part in workshops, guest speaker events, mentorship, networking opportunities, research discussions, and skill-building sessions. Researchers, faculty members, professionals, and other mentors may also provide guidance and feedback where appropriate.
At the end of the year, cohorts will have the opportunity to present their work at an HTRS Research and Innovation Competition and Showcase. Teams can present their analysis, research, proposed solution, prototype, or other final project and have their work evaluated and discussed.
Unlike groups centred on a single technology, research field, or professional pathway, HTRS uses a problem-based cohort model where students from different disciplines analyze real health-tech challenges, evaluate existing technologies, and develop their own research, recommendations, technical solutions, or early-stage prototypes.
HTRS explores areas such as artificial intelligence in healthcare, digital health, biotechnology, medical technology, data science, healthcare innovation, research ethics, and accessibility. The club is not limited to one technology or professional pathway. Instead, HTRS gives students a space to work across disciplines, tackle real health-tech questions, build practical skills, develop their own ideas, and connect with others interested in the future of healthcare and technology.