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 moreA ‘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.
Listen nowThank 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
contest
Contest
The following entries received the highest overall scores from the panel of judges.
They are listed in alphabetical order by title.
3D Printed Shape Conformable Solid State Batteries for Powering Next Gen Electronics
800 V, 50 A HV-Switch / e-Fuse
A Master Metric Predicting Lifespan
A New Treatment Approach for Spinal Cord Injury
A Novel Electric Propulsion Unit For Affordable Deep Space Exploration
A Salivary Test for Brain Health
A Simple Sensor for Detection of Ground from Water
A Wearable Ultrasound Cardiac Imager
A Wireless Wearable Ultrasound Patch for Deep Tissue Monitoring
AeroFeathers: 3D Printed Airfoils Inspired by the Quiet Flight of Owls
All-in-one Intuitive Platform for Low Noise Cryogenic Measurements Down to a Temperature of 3K
Amnova: Large Format Manufacturing of the Future
Anisotropic Thermal Material: Revolutionizing Battery Packing for Enhanced Safety and Efficiency
Bezalel - An Open-source 3D Printable Low-cost Tactile Display
Biodegradable Mycelium Packaging
BioRobotic Solution for Space Subsurface Exploration
Celcy - The Automated Nespresso of Food
Cleaning and Cooling to Safeguard Edge Vision Sensor Functionality
Continuous, Pain-Free Monitoring of Thyroid Hormones Using a Novel Biowearable
DigiScan: Early Warning for Pre-diabetes and Overall Health
Direct Seawater Electrolysis System with High-current-density Capability
Dynamic Drive Control Scheme for Energy-Efficient Electric Drive Systems
Easy Power Plus Hydrogen Disruptor Engine
EcoSmart™ Super Biodegradable, Bioactive, and Economical Food Packaging Film and Production Process
eDrone: a Flying Robot for Surveying Biodiversity in Hard-to-Reach Forest Canopies
Electrified Green Ammonia Synthesis
Eternium Aerospace Long Range Multi-role Electric Aircraft
EVAA - Ecological Vertical Agriculture Assistant
ExoMotus™ M4 Lower-limb Exoskeleton Robot
FDR Cross, the World’s First Two-in-one Fluoroscopy and Digital Radiography System
FluShield Antiviral Chicken Feed Additive
Ganaio High-Output Regenerative Damper
High-Power Electrostatic Actuators to Realize Artificial Muscles
Highly Maneuverable Electric VTOL Robotic Aircraft for Helicopter Impenetrable Environments
Hydrogen Electric Mainline Air Transport
Implantable and Wearable Artificial Kidney
Intuitive Human-Robot Collaboration through Example-Driven Learning
Ionic Mineral Technologies' Next-Generation Battery Material: The Nano-Silicon Solution
Liconic Power Unit for UAV Batteries Replacement
Liquid Air Energy Storage with CO2 Extraction
Marine Debris Collecting Remotely Operated Vehicle
Microfluidic Device to Simulate an in-vitro Blood Brain Barrier Model
Modular Encapsulated High Temperature Heat Pumps for Industrial Decarbonization
Nano-fibrous Biopaint for Zero-electricity Cooling
New Plastic-Metal Composite 3D Printing Technology
Non-Metallic Thermoplastic Infrared DX Fluid Heater/Boiler
Novel Electrical Steel Core Lamination Manufacturing Method
Novel Perovskite Glass Composite Enabling Coenzyme Regeneration
OptiAG - High Precision Irrigation & Fertilizer Application Framework for Optimal Agriculture
OrganEYEzer - High-throughput Sorting of Organoids
Parrot-inspired Robot for Mobile Tool Manipulation
Patchflow-Robotics for In-Pipe Leak Repair
PCB Probe Tester (PCBPT) - a Compact Desktop System that Helps with Automatic PCB Debugging
Pnoi-phone: a Breath-based Device for the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Asthma
POPSafe™ Endotracheal Tubes - Preventing Accidental Anesthesia/Ventilator Disconnections
Proflex® Prometheus™ - the Ultimate in High Energy Delivery Fiber Optics
Self-deployable Parabolic Satellite Antennas Based on Shape Memory Materials
SI-LINK™ DFDF-5451 NT Faster Curing Ethylene-Silane Copolymer
Small USV for Near Shore Data Collection
Solar Thermal Absorption Cooling - The Hotter It Is, The Cooler It Gets
Solar-powered Transport Networks, Jpods
Solaris - Solar-Powered Hydrogen Peroxide Water Purification System
Solaro - The Autonomous Solar Cleaning Robot
Square Trajectory Mechanism for Self-Reconfigurable Modular Robotic Systems
Sustainable Low Emission Zero Degassing High Voltage Cable Insulation Compound
SwellSense: Creating 2.5D Interactions with Micro-capsule Paper
TenseFlatables: 3D Printed Tensegrity-Assisted Inflatable Structures
The HIPO™ Modules: a Better Solution for High Power EV Chargers
Ultra-lightweight Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composite Door Assembly
Ultrafast Optical Transistor and Data Encoding
UnOrthoDOKS: Unibody Orthotic Device for Osteoarthritis Knee Support
ZEDS - Zero Emission Driving System: Electric Motor with Magneto-rheological Braking Integration
Zulu Pods Are the World's First Decentralized Lubrication System
GRAND PRIZE
A New Treatment Approach for Spinal Cord Injury
Johannes Dapprich, Elaine Brock, Jay Trautman, Jason Puchalla, Eve Tsai, and William S. Brown, Neuropair Inc., Princeton, NJ, USA
AEROSPACE & DEFENSE CATEGORY
Zulu Pods Are the World’s First Decentralized Lubrication System
Tyrone Fitzgerald and Daniella Sladen, Zulu Pods, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
Honorable Mention – Aerospace & Defense Category
AeroFeathers: 3D Printed Airfoils Inspired by the Quiet Flight of Owls
William Johnston, Gabrielle Mathews, Laura Nobles, Maria Carrillo-Munoz, and Brisham Sharma, Michigan Tech University, Houghton, MI, USA
Liconic Power Unit for UAV Batteries Replacement
Joao Arruda, Liconic Technology, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Proflex Prometheus – the Ultimate in High Energy Delivery Fiber Optics
Stephen Griffin, InnovaQuartz, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Shape Memory Alloy Assisted Geometric Docking Adapters
Athip Thirupathi Raj, Nicolas Gross, Jaret Rickel, Conner Sturgeon, and Jekan Thangavelautham, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
AUTOMOTIVE/TRANSPORTATION CATEGORY
Ganaio High-Output Regenerative Damper
John Gewarges, Ganaio, El Cajon, CA, USA
Honorable Mention – Automotive/Transportation Category
ZEDS – Zero Emission Driving System
Henrique De Carvalho Pinheiro, Massimiliana Carello, and Giovanni Imberti, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
Novel Electrical Steel Core Lamination Manufacturing Method
Youliang He, Damir Sebesta, and Maciej Podlesny, CanmetMATERIALS, RNCan, Ontario, Canada
Easy Power Plus Hydrogen Disruptor Engine
David Bosley, Aeroflux LLC, Columbus, IN, USA
Hybrid Transmission System for Blending Torque and Power Efficiency Between Engines & Final Transmission Shaft
Carlos Juni, Two Heads LLC, Buenos Aires, Argentina
ELECTRONICS CATEGORY
Safely Watch and Prioritize Maintenance with AI Deep Learning and Low-cost Passive RF Wireless Vibratory Strain Sensors
Reamonn Soto, Taofeek Orekan, and Azryana Soto, Sensatek, Daytona Beach, FL, USA
Honorable Mention – Electronics Category
SwellSense: Creating 2.5D Interactions with Micro-capsule Paper
Tingyu Cheng, Hyunjoo Oh, Gregory Abowd, Clement Zheng, Zhihan Zhang, Bingrui Zong, Yuhui Zhao, and YeJun Kim, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
Ultrafast Optical Transistor and Data Encoding
Mohammed Hassan, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
PCB Probe Tester – a Compact Desktop System that Helps with Automatic PCB Debugging
Fangzheng Liu and Joseph Paradiso, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA
SwitchaBLE
Yanghsi Su, Euiseok Huang, and Alanson Sample, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
MANUFACTURING & MATERIALS CATEGORY
TenseFlatables: 3D Printed Tensegrity-Assisted Inflatable Structures
William Johnston, Michigan Tech University, Houghton, MI, USA
Honorable Mention – Manufacturing & Materials Category
New Plastic-Metal Composite 3D Printing Technology
Kewei Song, Shinjiro Umezu, Hirotaka Sato, and Marc Josep Montagut Marques, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Ultra-lightweight Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composite Door Assembly
Sai Aditya Pradeep, Amit Deshpande, Madhura Limaye, Anmol Kothari, Aditya Yerra, Lukas Fuessel, Pal Swaminathan, Ryan Hahnlen, Duane Detwiler, Shridhar Yarlagadda, Gang Li, and Srikanth Pilla, Clemson Composites Center, Greenville, SC, USA
SI-LINK DFDF-5451 NT Faster Curing Ethylene Copolymer
Bharat Chaudhary, Sai Pappu, Peter Dreux, Kurt Bolz, Rajesh Paradkar, Arkady Krasovskiy, Marcio Alves, Ernesto Roman, Luis Vargas, Abhijit Ghosh-Dastidar, and Saurav Sengupta, The Dow Chemical Company, Collegeville, PA, USA
Patented Ceramic Grease
Rick Pelfrey, TriboDyn Inc., Mooresville, SC, USA
MEDICAL CATEGORY
A Salivary Test for Brain Health
Damir Janigro and Robert Schmidt, Flocel Inc., Cleveland, OH, USA
Honorable Mention – Medical Category
A Master Metric Predicting Lifespan
Jess Goodman, VitalSines Inc., Ontario, Canada
POPSafe Endotracheal Tubes – Preventing Accidental Anesthesia/Ventilator Disconnections
Kay Fuller, Smart Bridge Medical Inc., Ann Arbor, MI, USA
FluShield Antiviral Chicken Feed Additive
Haichuan Yang, Cubist Systematic Strategies, Long Island City, NY, USA
Continuous, Pain-free Monitoring of Thyroid Hormones Using a Novel Biowearable
Cameron West and Ali Dabas, Integrated Molecular Innovations (imi), Clarksville, TN, USA
ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION CATEGORY
Patchflow Robotics for In-pipe Leak Repair
Rory Bateman, Imperial College London, London, UK
Honorable Mention – Robotics & Automation Category
Parrot-inspired Robot for Mobile Tool Manipulation
Clyde Webster, Crest Robotics, New South Wales, Australia
Highly Maneuverable Electric VTOL Robotic Aircraft for Helicopter Impenetrable Environments
Alex Ramirez Serrano, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
BioRobotic Solution for Space Subsurface Exploration
Mohamed Alkalla, Mansoura University, Egypt
Intuitive Human-Robot Collaboration through Example-Driven Learning
Caitlin Dawson and Heramb Nemlekar, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, USA
SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY CATEGORY
Leakproof Valve
Ned Davis, Maui Innovation Group Inc., Kihei, HI, USA
Honorable Mention – Sustainable Technology Category
Direct Seawater Electrolysis System with High-current-density Capability
Nobuhiko Kobayashi and Søren Tornøe, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Nano-fibrous Biopaint for Zero-electricity Cooling
Andrew Caratenuto and Yi Zheng, Planck Energies Inc., Canton, MA, USA
Solaris – Solar-powered Hydrogen Peroxide Water Purification System
Zalkar Azizbekov, Messina University, Messina, Italy
Ionic Mineral Technologies’ Next-generation Battery Material: the Nano-Silicon Revolution
Bathen Lankry and Jake Entwistle, Ionic Mineral Technologies, Vineyard, UT, USA
TOP TEN MOST POPULAR ENTRIES
Portable Multiple Saw “LION-GREEN J-1”
Jonar Cubillan, 3JC Technologies, Maracaibo, Venezuela
Advanced Drive Cycle Generation Device
Robert Michael Corpus and Meldanette Bayani, PUP, Manila, Philippines
Air Ionization in Air Breathing Plasma Thruster
Anmol Taploo, Michael Keidar, Li Lin, Vikas Soni, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
Inkjet Printed SERS Substrate & Raman Spectrometer to Detect Food Contamination
Tony Francis, CheckAg Pvt Ltd.. Bangalore, India
SMARTRIX® Empowers Color-blind Drivers to Safely Drive
Renato Openiano, Orentrix, San Diego, CA, USA
Pnoi-phone: a Breath-based Device for the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Asthma
Veerababu Dharanalakota, Jeevan K, Prasanta Kumar Ghosh, Uma Maheswari Krishnaswamy, and Mohammad Shaique Solanki, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
Digital Portable Patient Folder Using NFC Technology
Yaw Antwi Adjei, Data Catalyst, Accra, Ghana
Automated Poultry Feeding System Using Microcontroller-based SmartFlock Technology
Robert Michael Corpus and Meldanette Bayani, PUP, Manila, Philippines
Ultra-lightweight Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composite Door Assembly
Sai Aditya Pradeep, Amit Deshpande, Madhura Limaye, Anmol Kothari, Aditya Yerra, Lukas Fuessel, Pal Swaminathan, Ryan Hahnlen, Duane Detwiler, Shridhar Yarlagadda, Gang Li, and Srikanth Pilla, Clemson Composites Center, Greenville, SC, USA
Mushroom-based Paper
Terlumun Nor, Makurdi, Nigeria
Kevin Alderman
Heat Treat Engineer
Malath Arar
Staff Engineer
Dean Barker
Director
Nate Bernklau
Senior Research Technologist
Joseph Bogusky
Staff Mechanical Engineer
Leonid Bunegin
Chief Innovation Office
Paulo Cabrita
Engineer
Earl Capozzi
Discipline Chief
Sabin Carpiuc
Principal Physical Modeling Engineer
Miguel Castillo
VP Technology Development
Chieh-Min Cheng
Research Fellow / Area Manager
Federico Cindolo
Director of Research
Chris Cook
Sr. Engineering Manager
Paul Cottey
Founder and CEO
Jeff Crompton
Chief Technology Officer
Fernando Da Mota Lopes Junior
Mechanical Engineer
Bryn Dixon
Design Lead Technical
Adrian Draghici
R&D Manager
Heather El-Homsi
Senior Supplier Quality Manager
David Ferguson
Global Technology Leader
Jon Fifield
Chief Engineer
Mitch Finne
Engineering Director
Inmaculada Galvez
Supply Chain Quality Manager
Bhaskar Gopalanarayanan
Principal Engineer
Jim Hathaway
Manager, Advanced Technologies Programs
Jesus Hernandez
Functional Validation Manager
David Hosey
Engineering Manager
Larry Hovish
Engineering Manager
Frank Joa
Senior Scientist
David Jorde
Development Consultant
Tomasz Kawala
Technical Specialist, Electronics Design
Andreas Klemm
Compliance Program Manager
Bharath Konda
Product Marketing Manager
Patrick Krueger
Senior Manager, Manufacturing Engineering
Deepak Kulkarni
Senior Manager
Joseph Lipman
Director of Device Development
Jose Guadalupe Mercado Rojas
Dr.
Eli Minson
Flight Assurance
Scott Moore
Chief Engineer
Kevin Moore
Sr. Principal Engineer
Arunachalam Nagarajan
Engineering Senior Manager
Paul Nussbaum
Professor
Stephen Osborne
Director of Engineering
Jay Paster
Electronics Engineer
Marek Piechocinski
MEMS Design Engineer
Antonio Quintieri
Principal Engineer
Andrew Runk
Managing Director
Gary Sera
Director Emiritus
Mike Stokes
Principal Design Engineer
Mark Tenner
Design Quality Engineer
John Trevino
Lead Staff Engineer
Adnan Turkey
Senior Professor, Engineering
Javier Valdes
Sr. Principal Engineer, Aircraft Seating R&D
Torbjorn Virdung
Technical Leader, CFD
Ken Woodard
A&D Technology Manager
Puck Yan
Principal Professional Staff
BACKGROUND
Clip appliers are reusable surgical instruments widely used to ligate tubular structures such as blood vessels. They are available in many lengths and diameters and for use with various sized clips.
Over its lifetime, the instrument is subjected to many degradation such as:
Oxydation
Biological contamination (dried residues,
Marty, the hybrid autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and remote-operated vehicle (ROV), is a groundbreaking innovation designed to unlock the mysteries of the deep sea and revolutionize underwater exploration. At its core, Marty serves as a beacon of possibility,
Third Bridge Now Freeway Corridor Is Necessary For Our Health, Safety, Economy, Environment, And Sanity
The 2002 transportation study concerning Portland / Vancouver pointed out that with have fewer bridges than similar size metropolitans. The study showed adding two bridges would still tie us for last place.
In many types of rotating equipment (cars, boats, helicopters, pumps, compressors), regular wear and tear bring about a gradual increase in unbalancing of the rotating components. In an industrial settings, unbalancing is one of the most common causes of failures (e.g. bearing wear, mechanical seal; etc.).
Electric-vehicles’ ascendance may help save Earth’s future, but may need out-of-the-box concepts to Create that Future, specifically “Back-to-the-Future” thinking: Reconsider 1900’s 33,842 US cars: 22%-ICE, 40%-steam, 38%-electric, including Lohner-Porsche’s petrol/electric-hybrid “carriage” powered by electric-motors inside each huge,
The system learns how to control the environment to provide best conditions for plant growth.
The EVAA R&D Project is a groundbreaking initiative that aims to revolutionize the way plants are cultivated in indoor hydroponic farms.
NavTrack is an innovative indoor navigation and occupancy monitoring system that utilizes cutting-edge technologies to revolutionize the way people navigate large building complexes. Designed to address the challenges faced by occupants in finding specific locations within buildings and ensuring their safety during emergency evacuations,
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