Thanks…and Stay Tuned!
Thank you to everyone who entered and voted in this year’s contest. Watch this space for announcement of the finalists who will compete for the $25,000 Grand Prize.
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
2011
Judges
Technical Fellow - Delphi
Kokomo, IN
BSME from General Motors Institute 1977
MS in Engineering from University of Colorado 1977
37 years experience in Manufacturing Equipment and Automation development, including robotics, machine vision, and high speed servo motion.
Experience in advanced electronics packaging development.
Senior Platform Engineer - GE Home & Business Solutions
Louisville, KY
BSME New Jersey Institute of Technology
Automotive OEM 20+ years: Powertrain Program Management, Chassis System Integration and Analysis
December 2009: General Electric Appliances Laundry System Design Engineer
Technology Specialist - Tetra Pak
Modena, Italy
I've worked, since 1997, as a Technology Specialist in Packaging Technology departement of Tetra Pak, world leader in aseptic packaging. I own several patents in the field (Patents n. EP02425003.7, EP01830392.5, EP09154474.2) and have acted as tutor for many Master Thesis in the field of Mechatronics for Packaging Machines. I also act as professor of Motion Control for Packaging Machines in Mechatronics Engineering at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia since 2002. I have been professor of Space Flight Dynamics in Aerospace Engineering at University of Bologna in Forli' from 1995 to 2002. In these years, I've written a book on the subject: "Dinamica del Volo Spaziale" edited by "Levrotto e Bella".
Industrial Designer - EUR-ERG - Technip Italy S.P.A.
Rome, Italy
Pierluigi La Montagna is an Industrial Designer, with the EUR-ERG qualification. He is specialized in Design of Control Centres and Control Rooms for industrial plants, including operational, lighting, acoustical, air conditioning and finishing design. Consoles and arrangement design, HMI and graphic interfaces design. Furthermore, for overall industrial plants projects: Individuation of ergonomic aspects in each project and set of the applicable Basic Ergonomic Principles (according to International Ergonomic Standards), with making out of ergonomic check-lists. Verification of the ergonomic principles application during the project stages: design review, plant construction and start-up.
Education:
- Italy, University of Bologna. Master's degree in Ergonomics with ENEA-CNR-SIE.
- Italy, Rome. I.S.I.A.
Current position: Discipline Engineer Sr. - Ergonomist in Technip, Rome (Italy) branch.
R&D Manager - Mars Inc.
Franklin, TN
Ralf Reiser is a Research & Development Manager for Mars Incorporated.In this position, he manages Process & Packaging development for the Pet Care division of Mars Incorporated.
Ralf received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Munich /Germany. He has been active in the area of Process & Packaging development for over 15 years and his international experience includes work in Germany & Austria.
Director, External Alliances - Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY
I focus on providing access to strategic technology developed in or by government and academic sources. Opportunities include accessing technology developed in government & university labs, joint development projects, and selective development projects that take advantage of government funding to accelerate internal R&D programs.
I have extensive background in government project work and University collaborations, including experience with proposals, contracts and project operations.
Chief Consultant & Adjunct Professor - Forbes Marshall & IIT Bombay
Pune, Maharashtra, India
A post graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay,India, Kamlesh has 35 years of experience in variuos sectors of industries like Energy, Power,Automotive, Defense and Education. His areas of expertise are Heat Transfer, Heat Exchangers, Management of R&D, Technology, Innovation & Knowledge; Collaborative Research as well as Industry-Academia Interaction.
Currently he is Chief Consultant with Forbes Marshall and also an Adjunct Prof at School of Management of IIT Bombay.Previously he was Head (Technology Mgmt) at Mahindra & Mahindra and Vice President (R&D, Innovation) at Thermax ,India. He is also on Board of Governors /Management of half a dozen Management and Engineering Institures.
He set up a Steam Engineering Centre at Forbes Marshall, Pune to impart hands-on training in Steam Engg & Energy Conservation to practicing engineers,teachers and students.He has also been a member of National & Regional Committees of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on Higher Education and Industry-Institute Interaction.
Kamlesh has lectured extensively, is presently a member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers, past member of British Hydraulic Research Association and past Vice President of Indian Society of Heat & Mass Transfer. His hobbies include cricket (he played cricket till college level), reading books on wide-ranging subjects. Teaching & guiding engineering students, making them industry-compatible and projectising engineering education are his passions.
VP, Automotive and Military - Maxim Integrated Products
Sunnyvale, CA
Kenneth J. Huening
Current Position: Vice President, Maxim Integrated Products
Responsibilities: Automotive Business Group, Strategic Accounts, Customer Service, Samples, Ecommerce, Distribution, Military Business Group
Tenure at Maxim: 28 yrs..employee number 37
Age: 50
Career Highlights
Automotive and Military Business Unit (2002 to Present)
- Developed the Business Plan for $700M incremental increase in Revenue in Automotive by FY12. Current revenue is $104M/yr for Automotive and $32M/yr for Military.
- Defined the significant (highest GM) markets to participate in with the intersection of our technologies and application opportunities.
- Coordinating the other legacy Business Unit offerings ensuring redundancy is limited, and conflicts minimized.
- Completed TS16949 Quality Certification for Automotive.
- Developed Strategic Relationships with Automotive Accounts, penetrating the Supplier Barrier.
- Implemented Logistic Replenishment Systems (VMI, SMI, Consignment, Schedule Sharing)
- Developed Manufacturing Capacity Reservation Systems for Strategic Accounts.
- Implemented Prototype Order Replenishment Systems that Deliver >95% to Customer Request +7 days.
- Helped build the Product Definition Team that distills the ideas to make the FY12 plan, with good return on Design Time and meeting planned margins.
- Building the Automotive Design Team to focus on specific processes necessary to solve this Markets Application Problems. Current design staff for Automotive is 20. Established Design Centers in US (3) and Europe (2).
- Helped establish a focused QA group to serve the special needs (PPAP, AECQ100, PSW, FMEA, FA turn time) of the Automotive Market Strategic Accounts (1993 to 2006).
- Helped create the concept of a specific group to handle Strategic Account Special needs to become their partner. 60% of the companies revenue is drawn from these accounts.
- Participated in the development of the logistic programs necessary to serve the simple Direct Procurement to more complicated Price Masking/Vendor Managed Inventory/Multiple CM/Multiple Forecast Models.
- Created Strategic Personal Relationships to help guide our direction and provide real time risk assessments for the supply chain (Customer Upside vs. Inventory Risk).
- Led the Lead-Free Conversion initiative, which is finally coming to closure.
Quality Assurance (1983 to 2002)
- Personally started Maxim's Quality, Failure Analysis, Document Control and Reliability Program, as there were only 37 other people in the company.
- Qualified Maxim to the Mil standards of the day (45208, 9858, 45662 and Mil Para 1.2.1a)
- Hired a successful QA group. The group now consists of over 400 at 5 manufacturing locations and 2 continents for QFE's.
- Handed Corporate QA to my cultivated and very capable successor to take on the Automotive Initiative, but kept Automotive QA.
- Expanded the FA group into the Philippines to provide manufacturing with immediate feedback on out of bounds conditions and serve our Asian customersextremely important for Japan.
- Wrote the companies Quality Policy (Customers Require Quality and Quality Improves Profitability).
- Led the team that achieved ISO9000 in November, 1993 (one of the first companies to do so).
- Wrote the EDN Article of the Month in 1995. (How to survive an ISO Audit).
- Installed a strong Reliability team which identified many Foundry problems (Phosphorus Contamination, Thin Passivation, Contaminated Metal), when Maxim was fabless. Note: Even the best fabs have problems.
- Reliability Consisted of Fast Reaction Monitors, and Long Term Monitor Tests.
- Developed a strong internal and key supplier Auditing team.
- Initiated the Electronic Document Control system now deployed to all sites.
Management of Information System (MIS)(1997-2000)
- Implemented a reliable Email and EDI capability. Installed network standard.
- Hired a cohesive Network team to undertake this effort.
- Implemented a network and PC help desk as well as a PC standard for Purchasing.
- Implemented reliable WAN to all remote locations.
- Established remote office LAN and WAN standards for speed and uptime.
- Transferred Responsibility to Dallas VP after the 2000 acquisition.
Shipping (1997 to 2002)
- Managed the implementation of a more fully Automated Inventory Management System (AIM's) that tracks and prioritizes the stock by date codes, customer specials, FIFO, Inventory location, and now terminal finish.
- Converted from DOS to UNIX.
- Integrated with Dallas's system in 3 months after acquisition.
- Reduced cost ($400K/quarter) by transferring it to the Philippines and now Thailand.
- Managed many end of quarter closures.
- The group proposed and implemented in-house Tape and Reel capability saving the company $2M/qtr and reduced turn time by 70%.
- Implemented this packaging technique for RF and high power CMOS and small form factor products.
Chip Scale Packaging (CSP)..(2000-2002)
- Qualified the process to standard JEDEC tests.passing OEM qualifications (Ericsson and Motorola).
- Transferred responsibility to FAB VP when the Automotive Initiative Started.
Distribution/Samples/Customer Service (1993 to 2006)
- Managed the US and Asian Franchised Distribution
- Implement Maxim/Dallas Direct (Maxim's own competitive Distribution channel).
- Launched the Ecommerce site, first in 2000 and then just recently after a major revision.
Other Activities
- Actively participated in the Tektronix and Dallas early assessments and acquisition, then management of their related groups.
Maxim Advancement
- 1983 Joined as Failure Analysis Engineer.
- 1985 Promoted to QA Manager
- 1987 Promoted to QA Director
- 1990 Promoted to Managing Director, Quality
- 1993 Promoted to VP Quality, Customer Service and Strategic Accounts
Previous Employment
- National Semiconductor, Failure Analysis Engineer. Recruited to Mitsubishi
- Mitsubishi Semiconductor, QA Manager. Recruited to Maxim.
Education
- BSEET, DeVry Institute of Technology, Arizona. Graduated Tau Alpha Pi
- Completing MBA at Pepperdine
Patents
- 2 filed for Side Wettable QFN Packaging methods.
Principal Engineer - Stryker
Kalamazoo, MI
Parag Gupta received his BS (Honors) in Manufacturing Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India in 1989, MS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada in 1992 and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University (ISU), Ames, Iowa, USA in 1996. He was Fellow of Iowa Center for Emerging Manufacturing Technology at ISU. He has published several papers, technical chapters in books and holds a patent for designing a milling cutter at Kennametal which is still the fastest cutter on the planet. He has also reviewed several papers for SME and ASME transactions.
He worked for Hurco companies where he managed a team to build the first high speed machining Center which was a quantum leap for Hurco. Parag is currently working as a Principal engineer at Stryker, where he has implemented Finite Element Analysis (FEA) across 9 divisions globally and has guided FEA leaders at all divisions in implementing FEA.
Parag is also an entrepreneur. He invented the Q90 board game and is the co-founder of Spark Games LLC which manufactures and sells this board game. He is the founder & President of KhadiUSA.com which sells hand-made soaps.
Assistant Vice President - Southwest Research Institute
San Antonio, TX
Mr. Smith has accumulated significant experience in the design, development, and testing of electronic systems and in the management and development of related projects and programs.
He has had extensive experience with military, rugged commercial and commercial design requirements and in project, program, and administrative management.
His experience includes management of multi-million-dollar programs and acting as the Principal Investigator for Internal Research projects. He has managed programs involving analysis, research, development, production, testing, consulting, training, and field services, including site surveys, installation and check out, and calibration. He also led numerous QRC efforts. He is experienced with cost/schedule status control systems and other modern project management techniques involving technical performance, fiscal, schedule, personnel, documentation, logistics, reliability, maintainability, and security.
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