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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.

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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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ecovent Systems - Make every room the right temperature

Votes: 19
Views: 11497

Most homes have only one thermostat, so they operate like a house with only one light switch. Everything is either on or off. That leaves some rooms boiling hot while others are freezing cold. It’s uncomfortable, and it’s inefficient. ecovent fixes that problem.

We’ve built a system of wireless vents and sensors that makes any forced air heating and cooling system smarter by directing conditioned air where it’s needed most. ecovent is easy to install, saves energy, and is ready to make millions of homes much more comfortable.

The system consists of three main components: intelligent wireless vents, advanced sensors, and a mobile app that gives homeowners complete control over their comfort. The sensor suite monitors the real-time climate conditions in every room, and the intelligent vents redirect airflow accordingly. If rooms are unoccupied, there’s no need to heat or cool them, and homeowners can use the app to set custom temperature levels for different floors, rooms, or times of day. The result is a more efficient and comfortable home.

Installation is also very simple. Users simply plug a sensor suite into any electrical outlet in each room and replace their existing vents with ours. No special tools are necessary. Once it’s installed, the system immediately begins learning the characteristics of the home and users’ heating and cooling preferences.

ecovent takes the antiquated vents that have been used in forced air heating and cooling systems for half a century and finally brings them into the 21st century. Our team has a combined 35 years of aeronautical engineering expertise, which they've applied to optimizing airflow in residential HVAC. This is essential to achieving comfort and balance, and it's what truly sets ecovent apart from the competition. Traditional room-by-room zoning systems can cost in excess of $10,000 and take days to install by a contractor. In addition, these systems cannot automatically adjust to homeowner behavior or predictively condition rooms.?

We project that ecovent can reduce heating and cooling costs by as much as 50%, and the system can pay for itself in less than three years. ecovent helps homeowners stay comfortable, but it is also a sustainable technology. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing comfort, ecovent will change the way people think about home heating and cooling.

Video

  • Awards

  • 2014 Sustainable Technologies Category Winner
  • 2014 Top 100 Entries

Voting

Voting is closed!

  • ABOUT THE ENTRANT

  • Name:
    Dipul Patel
  • Type of entry:
    team
    Team members:
    Dipul Patel, CEO & founder, ecovent Systems
    Yoel Kelman, COO, ecovent Systems
    Nick Lancaster, CTO, ecovent Systems
    Shawn Rose, CIO, ecovent Systems
    Brian Bowen, Director of Marketing, ecovent Systems
  • Patent status:
    pending