The 18th annual “Create the Future” Design Contest  for engineers, students, and entrepreneurs worldwide, sponsored by COMSOL, Inc ., and Mouser Electronics , drew more than 750 innovative product ideas from engineers and students in 60 countries. The Medical category itself received 128 outstanding entries from 26 countries. Analog Devices and Intel were supporting sponsors, and Zeus sponsored the Medical category. The contest, which was established in 2002, recognizes and rewards engineering innovations that benefit humanity, the environment, and the economy.

Winners were selected from the seven categories: Medical Products, Consumer Products, Electronics, Machinery/Automation/Robotics, Sustainable Technologies, Automotive/Transportation, and Aerospace & Defense. In addition to product ideas at the concept or prototype stage, contestants could submit designs for commercial products introduced to the market within the last 12 months.

This year’s grand-prize winner, RepelWrap, is a self-cleaning surface that instantly repels viruses and bacteria and could potentially prevent the transfer of superbugs. (Read a Q&A with the RepelWrap inventors.) The first-place winner in each category receives a Hewlett-Packard workstation computer. The top prize winners were honored at a special one-hour virtual presentation in November. Watch the ceremony here. All entries can be seen here . This article introduces the Medical Category winner and four Medical Category Honorable Mentions.