2024 Contest Now Accepting Entries!

Submit your best new product ideas for a chance at $25,000, other great prizes, and global recognition. If you already are registered, log in to access the entry form. Otherwise, click here to get started.

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 across six continents. You can also join the innovators who dared to dream big and build a better tomorrow by entering this year’s contest.

Read About Past Winners’ Success Stories

Over the past 20 years, many innovators have used the recognition afforded by the contest to advance the development and marketing of their technologies. We highlight some success stories of past winners who have brought their inventions to the marketplace.

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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Improved Dispense Pump

Votes: 0
Views: 6534

The goal was to design a highly accurate, cost effective dispense pump that would be 100% PTFE (Teflon) in the wetted flow path which results in excellent chemical resistance to acids and bases. PTFE also has extremely low surface energy which results in minimal retention for bio-pharma applications.

Traditional dispense pumps typically fall into two general categories that limit their capabilities in sensitive environments that cannot accept any degree of fluid leakage or contamination.

Syringe type dispense pumps have a linear output and reasonable pressure capability but they are not available in 100% inert materials due to the nature of their design which requires a dynamic seal to be in contact with the bore of the syringe. All dynamic seals have a small percentage of bypass (leakage) as the nature of their design. The level of bypass will increase over time due to wear. When dealing with highly caustic solutions, liquids that are hazardous or chemistries sensitive to atmospheric contact this becomes unacceptable. The particle generation resulting from dynamic seal wear is not acceptable in many industries such as semiconductor.

Diaphragm type dispense pumps resolve some of these issues but are typically limited in capacity due to the stroke capability of diaphragms. Diaphragms do not produce a linear volumetric output curve which limits their accuracy. The pressure capability is limited due to the unsupported nature of a diaphragm.

The pump that is being developed and tested overcomes these limitations. The patented design utilizes “rolling diaphragm” technology. The rolling diaphragm is supported between a cylindrical bore and internal support/actuator and is made from high purity PTFE. The fully supported nature of the design results in a high degree of stability in the structure which translates to a very accurate and repeatable volumetric dispense. Since the rolling diaphragm has no dynamic sealing surfaces there is no possibility of bypass (leakage). The lack of a dynamic seal and 100% PTFE flow path eliminates the possibility of particle generation and ionic contamination critical to sensitive industries such as semiconductor.

The rolling diaphragm and all wetted surfaces are constructed of PTFE which makes the pump inert to virtually all chemistries. The design has pressure capability in excess of 100 psi which allows injection into existing pressurized fluid streams or vessels. It also has the ability to self-prime. Due to the fully supported nature of the rolling diaphragm concept and linear characteristic of a cylindrical dispense chamber, accuracy has been an order of magnitude better than competitive products in testing. Initial tests indicate an accuracy of +/- 1/10th of one percent repeatability ( 0.1%) Competitive products typically advertise +/- 1 percent (1.0%). Due to the relatively simple nature of the design this is achieved at a projected price point which is lower than products currently available. The dispense pump only requires a regulated air source and in it’s current iteration is adjustable from 0 to 100 milliliter dispense volume per stroke. The design is readily scalable to support virtually any volumetric range desired.

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  • ABOUT THE ENTRANT

  • Name:
    Kenji Kingsford
  • Type of entry:
    individual
  • Profession:
    Engineer/Designer
  • Number of times previously entering contest:
    never
  • Kenji's favorite design and analysis tools:
    Pro Engineer CAD, FEA and CFD
  • Kenji's hobbies and activities:
    Performance boating, wakeboarding, horses
  • Kenji belongs to these online communities:
    Linked In
  • Kenji is inspired by:
    Mentors such as Kelly Johnson and John Browning.
    The satisfaction resulting from solving a problem with an innovative solution.
  • Software used for this entry:
    SolidWorks
  • Patent status:
    patented