From uni project to medtech startup: Mohammad's work recognised in state awards

A Federation University Australia graduand who turned a classroom project into an emerging health-tech startup has been recognised among Victoria's most outstanding international students.

 Mohammad Saud has been named a finalist in the Victorian International Education Awards 2026, Regional International Student of the Year category, after completing a Bachelor of Information Technology last semester.

While studying at Federation, Mohammad led the development of a chronic kidney disease self-management app designed to help patients monitor their health and promote more informed care.

What began as a university project has evolved into a health-tech startup concept named ‘KidneyMate’, progressing through the FORGE Regional Pre-Accelerator program and recently reaching the semi-finals of MedTech Actuator Origin Australia 2026.

KidneyMate enables users to track medications, symptoms, fluid intake, sleep, mood and daily health patterns, turning everyday monitoring into actionable clinical insights that could support more personalised care.

"By bringing various aspects of users' health information together in one place. KidneyMate can hopefully help people with chronic kidney disease better manage their health and provide clinicians with clearer, more useful patient data," Mohammad said.

"Supporting KidneyMate to grow from a class project into an emerging startup has been one of the most rewarding parts of university experience."

Last month, Mohammad presented KidneyMate at the semi-final pitch night for MedTech Actuator Origin Australia following a two-day pitch bootcamp and three-day venture bootcamp, saying the experience helped him to connect with industry leaders and gain valuable knowledge about government regulation.

"Coming from a regional town in Victoria and suddenly getting the opportunity to understand the global medtech industry from people who are actually building and shaping it was amazing," he said.

Mohammad moved to Australia from Bangladesh in 2023 and in 2025 commenced a Federation Co-Operative Education placement with the University's own Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI), giving him real-world industry experience as part of his degree.

During the placement, he helped communicate complex, nationally significant soil research information to public audiences.

“I recommend a Co-op placement to everyone, it will shape every student into a professional person,” he said.

Now balancing two part-time jobs, along with a casual role at CeRDI as a Digital Systems Support Officer, Mohammad is focussed on taking the next steps with KidneyMate and hopes to launch the app on the Google Play store by early 2027

"I have always wanted to do something beyond the classroom that helps people and being a finalist in the education awards encourages me to keep pushing forward," he said.

“The people who are finalists are doing amazing things, so it’s a big honour.”

The Victorian International Education Awards, presented by the Victorian Government, recognise the achievements of outstanding international students and education providers across the state. Winners will be announced on 29 September.