Congratulations to Our 2024 Grand Prize and First Place Winners!

NETrolyze, a novel immunotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), was named the $25,000 grand prize winner at a live finalist round held November 15 in New York. The first-in-class therapeutic injectable gel prevents the spread of TNBC, one of the most aggressive cancer types, enabling patients to avoid toxic chemotherapy and expensive treatments – potentially transforming their lives. Click here for the full list of 2024 winners. Also see the Top 100 highest scoring entries.

Help build a better tomorrow

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.

Read About Past Winners’ Success Stories

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.

Click here to read more

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.

“From our beginnings, Mouser has supported engineers, innovators and students. We are proud of our longstanding support for the Create the Future Design Contest and the many innovations it has inspired.”

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

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Daniel Schkeeper

Senior Engineer
Electric Boat Corporation
Groton, CT

Degrees earned include a Bachelor of Science in Electric Power Engineering (2002) and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering with Electric Power Concentration (2010), both from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Employment history mostly includes working as an Electromagnetics (EM) Engineer since 2002 at Electric Boat Corporation in Groton, CT. Job responsibilities since then have focused on supporting system- and subassembly-level Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3) design, test, and analysis for U.S. Navy submarines and surface ships. Additionally, multi-year involvement in applied research and development efforts has led to current project tasks including development of MATLAB-based EM computer models to be used for EMC analyses. Recent extracurricular activities have included serving as president of my condominium association from 2005 to 2010, which included frequent meetings with the 79 other unit owners and oversight of annual budgets ranging upwards of $650,000. Nowadays, aside from occasional home and car maintenance, my after work activities primarily include spending time with my wife and two little girls.