Revolutionary Audio Technology Wins 2025 Create the Future Design Contest

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The $25,000 Grand Prize in the 2025 Create the Future Design Contest was awarded to John La Grou of Diamond Springs, California, for Imersiv, a breakthrough technology that improves audio performance by 100X compared to today’s very best audio equipment for applications ranging from sound engineering to space missions to medical imaging.

La Grou’s D-to-A conversion architecture – called HDR-A or High Dynamic Range Audio - divides an incoming audio signal into multiple dynamic pathways, each optimized for different signal levels. Lower pathways are engineered for ultra-low noise, while higher pathways handle extreme signal peaks. When recombined, these pathways produce an extraordinary 170 dB dynamic range, far exceeding the 130 dB limit of today’s top DACs. This results in a 40 nVrms broadband noise floor, a level so low that even the world’s most advanced test instruments struggle to measure it.

After more than a decade in research and development, the triple-patented technology began commercial production and shipping earlier this year.

“This has been 12 years of my life, doing engineering that no one’s ever done, every week” said La Grou. “Thank you to SAE, I appreciate it so much” he added.

The Create the Future Design Contest, now in its 23rd year, celebrates engineering innovations that benefit humanity, the environment, and the economy. Sponsored by COMSOL, Mouser Electronics, Analog Devices, and Intel, the contest continues to inspire forward-thinking ideas from engineers, entrepreneurs, and students around the world.

Finalists in seven categories — aerospace & defense; automotive and transportation; electronics; energy, power & propulsion; manufacturing and materials; medical; and robotics and automation — were selected from over 630 entries submitted by participants across 67 countries.

“As COMSOL marks its 20th year of supporting the Create the Future Design Contest, this year’s innovations show why this competition continues to be so important. The Grand Prize winner – 100X Audio Digital-to-Analog Performance Improvement – is a remarkable breakthrough for the audio engineering community,” said Oscar Littmarck, VP of Marketing at COMSOL. “We also congratulate all category winners across medical technologies, transportation, materials and manufacturing, aerospace and defense, energy, and robotics for advancing thoughtful, high-impact engineering.”

"It’s an honor to be part of this program. Congratulations to the 2025 Create the Future Contest winners, and special thanks to all of the participants for their entries,” said Kevin Hess, Mouser’s Senior Vice President of Marketing. “Mouser is dedicated to empowering innovation so we are especially excited to support this annual competition that fosters ingenuity and attracts forward-thinking innovators and engineers from across the globe.”

In addition to the grand prize, first-place winners were named in seven categories.

Aerospace & Defense
Silent Sentry: A Software-Defined Passive Sensor for Counter-Stealth and Battlefield Survivability

Automotive & Transportation:
NOxZero™: Making Diesel Engines Nearly Emission-Free

Electronics:
Plastalyst – Chemical Recycling

Energy, Power & Propulsion:
Rev Force: Ultra-Efficient Hydrogen Combustion for Clean, Distributed Power and Propulsion

Manufacturing & Materials:
REACT^®: Automated Capsule Recycling Technology for a Circular Coffee Industry

Medical:
Blood Viscosity: The Next Vital Sign – A Wearable Breakthrough in Trauma, Sepsis, and Vascular Health

Robotics & Automation:
Woodpeckr

For more information about the Create the Future Design Contest, visit www.createthefuturecontest.com.


About COMSOL 
COMSOL (www.comsol.com) is a global provider of simulation software for research and product development across industry, government labs, and academia. COMSOLMultiphysics^® is an integrated finite element analysis (FEA) software environment for building physics-based models and simulation apps. The platform enables users to model single-physics and multiphysics phenomena with high fidelity in one consistent interface. Add-on products provide specialized capabilities for electromagnetics, structural mechanics, acoustics, fluid flow, heat transfer, and chemical applications. Interfacing tools integrate COMSOL with all major computing and CAD tools used in the CAE community. COMSOL Compiler™ and COMSOLServer™ allow simulation experts to deploy custom applications to design teams, manufacturing groups, test laboratories, and customers. Founded in 1986, COMSOL has 16 offices worldwide and extends its reach through a network of distributors.

About Mouser
Mouser Electronics is an authorized semiconductor and electronic component distributor focused on New Product Introductions from its leading manufacturer partners. Serving the global electronic design engineer and buyer community, the global distributor's website, mouser.com, is available in multiple languages and currencies and features more than 6.8 million products from over 1,200 manufacturer brands. Mouser offers 28 support locations worldwide to provide best-in-class customer service in local language, currency and time zone. The distributor ships to over 650,000 customers in 223 countries/territories from its 1 million-square-foot, state-of-the-art distribution facilities in the Dallas, Texas, metro area. For more information, visit https://www.mouser.com/.

About the Create the Future Design Contest
The Create the Future Design Contest was launched in 2002 by the publishers of Tech Briefs magazine to help stimulate and reward engineering innovation. The annual event has attracted more than 15,000 product design ideas from engineers, entrepreneurs, and students in 100+ countries worldwide. The contest is produced by SAE Media Group (www.saemediagroup.com).

Kaitlyn Sommer
SAE Media Group
+1 917-286-3759
kaitlyn.sommer@saemediagroup.com
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