PROJECT WEEK is a semi-annual event which draws 80-120 researchers. As of August 2014, it is a MICCAI endorsed event. The participants work collaboratively on open-science solutions for problems that lie on the interfaces of the fields of computer science, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, and medicine. In contrast to conventional conferences and workshops the primary focus of the Project Weeks is to make progress in projects (as opposed to reporting about progress). The objective of the Project Weeks is to provide a venue for this community of medical open source software creators. Project Weeks are open to all, are publicly advertised, and are funded through fees paid by the attendees. Participants are encouraged to stay for the entire event.
PROJECT WEEK ACTIVITIES. Everyone shows up with a project. Some people are working on the platform. Some people are developing algorithms. Some people are applying the tools to their research problems. We begin the week by introducing projects and connecting teams. We end the week by reporting progress. In addition to the ongoing working sessions, breakout sessions are organized ad-hoc on a variety of special topics. These topics include: discussions of software architecture, presentations of new features and approaches and topics such as Image Guided Therapy.
Several funded projects use the Project Week as a place to convene and collaborate. These include NAC, AT-NCIGT, T32 Multidisciplinary Training, QIICR, OCAIRO, SlicerIGT and OpenIGTLink.