At the SensUs 2025 Competition held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, at the end of August, the MakeSense team from ShanghaiTech, in its first-ever participation, delivered a stunning performance. Competing against top-tier global teams, MakeSense clinched the Analytical Performance Award (Global Champion) and the Innovation Award (Global Runner-Up), while also earning the SensUs Gold Medal. Most notably, the team achieved a historic breakthrough in the Analytical Performance test, setting a new competition record with “unprecedented results” and “near-perfect accuracy.”
SensUs is an annual international biosensor design competition launched in 2016 by Eindhoven University of Technology. The participating teams are from leading universities in the world. Each year, the competition focuses on a specific disease biomarker, requiring teams to develop a sensor within six months and complete designated tasks. The competition awards four categories: Analytical Performance, Innovation, Translational Potential, and Public Inspiration. The Analytical Performance Award, judged solely on the accuracy and consistency of on-site test results, is widely regarded as the most prestigious, reflecting core technical excellence. Teams that successfully complete all tasks receive the SensUs Gold Medal.
The certificate for Analytical Performance Award.
ShanghaiTech team receiving the Analytical Performance Award.
The team receiving the Innovation Award.
The topic of SensUs 2025 centered on detecting creatinine, a biomarker for kidney failure. The competition required each team to develop a wearable creatinine sensor using interstitial fluid for continuous monitoring. A coin-sized electrochemical platform developed by the team MakeSense effectively eliminated interference from creatine and sarcosine, enabling high-precision, continuous monitoring of creatinine in interstitial fluid and sweat. Additionally, its modular design allows reusable electronics with replaceable electrode modules, reducing costs while meeting the high-frequency needs of acute kidney injury patients, mid-frequency monitoring for chronic kidney disease, and non-invasive sweat-based testing for healthy individuals. This enables a real-time, long-term, and personalized kidney function tracking.
MakeSense achieved full scores across all samples in the Analytical Performance test, making a historic breakthrough and setting a new record in SensUs competition. “This team did an absolutely remarkable job with unprecedented results and near-perfect accuracy. This is a first in SensUs history and sets a new benchmark for other teams, especially as a first-time participating team,” praised by the SensUs organizer.
Results of the Analytical Performance test.
ShanghaiTech’s MakeSense team, supported by the School of Life Science and Technology, was invited to compete for the first time, facing off against teams from universities including Cornell University, McGill University, ETH Zurich, Technical University of Munich, Zhejiang University, and Paris-Saclay University. Comprising mostly first- and second-year undergraduates, MakeSense stood out against teams of senior undergraduates and graduate students. In just six months, the team completed interdisciplinary collaboration and scientific exploration from scratch, showcasing ShanghaiTech’s research strength on the global stage.
Winning the award at SensUs 2025 marks a new beginning for the team and also fuels motivation for greater progress. The team will continue advancing biosensor technology development and translation, applying innovative solutions to broader medical and health scenarios, contributing ShanghaiTech’s strength to building a “healthier human society.”
MakeSense team members:
School of Life Science and Technology:
Wang Tianyi, Shao Rong, Hao Yuchen, Liu Chen, Xiong Wanxiang
School of Information Science and Technology:
Lin Kaizhan, Zhu Haotian, Liu Linjia, Yan Qihang, Xiong Wenye
School of Physical Science and Technology:
Wen Chuhe
School of Creativity and Art:
Dong Runlin
School of Biomedical Engineering:
Zhang Jingting
Advisors:
School of Life Science and Technology:
School of Biomedical Engineering:
School of Creativity and Art: