Graduate students Heran Pradhan (Sc.M. biomedical engineering), Varun Satheesh (Sc.M. computer science) and Chiang-Heng Chien (Ph.D. electrical and computer engineering) have been selected to compete in the 2026 Hult Prize National Competition on May 1 at the Hult International Business School in Boston for their start-up SCANA.
SCANA is an AI-powered wound care platform on a mission to fix the $22 billion chronic wound care problem in the United States. The platform eliminates the documentation burden for clinicians so they can focus on patient care -- ensuring every visit is fully compliant, reimbursement-ready, and accurately captured. Built entirely on regular mobile devices, the platform combines 3D wound imaging, intelligent guided assessment, real-time AI documentation, and daily patient monitoring, all from a device clinicians already carry. No special hardware or extra steps are needed.
The three co-founders have worked closely with senior wound care experts who bring decades of direct hands-on experience and clinical insight to help build a system designed to integrate seamlessly with how clinicians work in practice. The name SCANA is derived from a combination of “scan” and “AI,” an intuitive nod that reflects the ability of the platform to both photograph, analyze and track daily assessments of the progression of wound measurements.
SCANA advanced to the national stage through Hult’s Prize open application, submitting a recorded pitch video along with other supporting application materials. All team members must be currently enrolled university students and consist of two to four members.
The Hult Prize is a prestigious global business competition started by a partnership between the Hult Business School and the United Nations Foundation. The Hult competition inspires student entrepreneurs to solve the world’s biggest challenges through innovative social enterprises with positive global impact. Through the year-long competition and since its inception, over 1 million young people from 130+ countries have participated in their programs, working to create high-impact startups that address the annual challenge in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The competition narrows from 18,000 teams who compete in the regional section, to just 1,500 startups advancing to the national stage in May. Ultimately, finalists pitch their businesses to a panel of expert judges, and the winning team receives the $1M USD startup capital purse.