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Since Tech Briefs magazine launched the Create the Future Design contest in 2002 to recognize and reward engineering innovation, over 15,000 design ideas have been submitted by engineers, students, and entrepreneurs in more than 100 countries. Join the innovators who dared to dream big by entering your ideas today.

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Special Report spotlights the eight top entries in 2023 as well as past winners whose ideas are now in the market, making a difference in the world.

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A ‘Create the Future’ Winner Featured on ‘Here’s an Idea’

Spinal cord injury affects 17,000 Americans and 700,000 people worldwide each year. A research team at NeuroPair, Inc. won the Grand Prize in the 2023 Create the Future Design Contest for a revolutionary approach to spinal cord repair. In this Here’s an Idea podcast episode, Dr. Johannes Dapprich, NeuroPair’s CEO and founder, discusses their groundbreaking approach that addresses a critical need in the medical field, offering a fast and minimally invasive solution to a long-standing problem.

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Thank you from our Sponsors

“At COMSOL, we are very excited to recognize innovators and their important work this year. We are grateful for the opportunity to support the Create the Future Design Contest, which is an excellent platform for designers to showcase their ideas and products in front of a worldwide audience. Best of luck to all participants!”

— Bernt Nilsson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, COMSOL, Inc.

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— Kevin Hess, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Mouser Electronics

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The Sipficient Travel Mug: Piping Hot to the Very Last Drop

Votes: 0
Views: 5356

Hot beverage containers pose a difficult challenge to the everyday consumer.

The temperature of the drink can be just as important as the drink itself, but elevated temperatures can be dangerous. In order for someone to drink their beverage, they need to let it cool to their ideal drinking temperature. Unfortunately, as it cools, the beverage will only be in this ideal drinking temperature zone briefly.

The natural response is to create an insulated travel mug. Such a mug helps to prolong the drinking time but can also add complications. First, there is no easy way to know the temperature of the liquid, which increases the chance of being burnt. Secondly, to cool the beverage to drinking temperature, a consumer must either remove the top of the travel mug and allow the entire drink to cool, or use both hands to open the container and fill a small detachable cup, which can be cumbersome.

Sipficient is the first travel mug to create true harmony between incredible insulation and drinkability wrapped in a spill-proof, leak-proof container.

Sipficient separates the coffee into two reservoirs. The holding reservoir is a stainless steel chamber complete with a vacuum-sealed jacket, and the drinking reservoir is made from FDA-approved mold injected plastics. The two are cleverly assembled into a single, sleek and ergonomic travel mug.

To bring liquid to the drinking reservoir, the user pops open the spout with a thumb, then activates the flexible finger pump bulb which pushes air into the holding reservoir. The air exit valve keeps the air in the holding reservoir while the air inlet valve allows the pump bulb to pull air back into the pumping chamber in preparation for another pump. The increased pressure in the drinking reservoir pushes liquid up the straw and through the spout to fill the drinking reservoir. Its two-reservoir design and single-handed operation makes Sipficient the fastest, simplest way to get that first delicious sip of coffee at the perfect drinking temperature.

Because of the danger associated with hot liquids under even low pressures, the spout is designed in such a way that it will safely deflect the liquid into the drinking reservoir during pump activation. The same is true if an internal pressure has built up due to temperature or elevation changes; when the user opens the spout, pressure is relieved as fluids are deflected safely into the drinking reservoir and away from the user’s face.

The biggest challenge is to wrap all of these features in a simple, cost effective design so Sipficient can be competitive, handy, and easy to clean. This is accomplished with a pump design of only three parts and a pump bulb that has a self-catching lip so it can be easily removed and reinstalled during cleaning. The self-catching lip design is also much simpler to manufacture than a pump bulb which is permanently attached.

With a comparable number of parts as other travel mugs, the additional capabilities of Sipficient makes it a one of a kind design.

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  • ABOUT THE ENTRANT

  • Name:
    Blake Vanier
  • Type of entry:
    individual
  • Profession:
    Engineer/Designer
  • Number of times previously entering contest:
    1
  • Blake's favorite design and analysis tools:
    Solidworks.
  • Blake's hobbies and activities:
    Making and physics
  • Blake is inspired by:
    Problems that need solutions.
  • Patent status:
    pending