A Management Sciences and Engineering (MSE) student capstone team, working with the Health AI & Analytics Lab at the University of Waterloo, has delivered Picktacular, an adaptive decision‑support dashboard designed to help hospitals better manage operating room (OR) supply pick‑lists. Developed in collaboration with Cambridge Memorial Hospital (CMH) and supervised by Prof. Houra Mahmoudzadeh and Prof. Stan Dimitrov, the project earned the Sustainable Design Award among all MSE capstone projects.
The team addressed a common but complex challenge in healthcare operations: wide variation in surgeon‑specific picklists for the same surgical procedures. While these variations often reflect individual surgeon preferences or training, over time they can increase inventory complexity, raise costs, and contribute to unnecessary waste.
Rather than telling hospitals what to change, Picktacular is designed to support informed, human‑centred decision‑making. The interactive dashboard allows users to compare picklists side‑by‑side, uncover patterns and overlap, and explore potential item substitutions. To support this process, Picktacular uses adaptive learning models to recommend potential swaps and clearly explain the rationale behind each suggestion, by highlighting differences in usage patterns, cost, and how commonly alternative items are used across different surgeons. As users review and respond to these recommendations, the system adapts over time to better reflect local expertise and priorities.
The project concluded with a final on‑site hand‑off meeting at CMH, where the team delivered a fully working system designed to run entirely on the hospital’s local network. Developed through close, ongoing collaboration with hospital staff, the dashboard emphasizes transparency, usability, and alignment with real‑world clinical workflows.
The team’s work was recognized with the Sustainable Design Award, which honours capstone projects that demonstrate meaningful contributions to sustainability through thoughtful design. In this case, the project supports more efficient resource use, reduced waste, and improved operational decision‑making in healthcare settings. Congratulations Agishan Thaya, Callum Gillies, Curtis Tse, Graydon Power, and Liam Mitchell for the amazing work!