Inspiring Tomorrow’s Hearing Innovators: MED-EL Presents the Winners of 2025 IDEASforEARS Contest
February 10, 2025 – Innsbruck, Austria: What do football helmets with built-in hearing technology, bracelets that detect environmental sounds, and pendants that vibrate in emergencies have in common? They are just a few of the remarkable ideas dreamed up by young inventors in MED-EL’s 2025 IDEASforEARS Children’s Invention Contest – a global celebration of creativity, curiosity, and innovation. A global leader in hearing implant solutions, MED-EL is proud to announce the winners of its initiative, which inspires children aged 6-12 to create imaginative technologies that address hearing loss.
- 355 children from 24 countries participated, with ten winners recognized for their creativity and impact on hearing loss
- Grand prize includes trip to MED-EL’s headquarters in Innsbruck, Austria
- Since 2017, IDEASforEARS has received more than 1,700 ideas from young inventors across 45+ countries
This contest is more than just about ideas – it has become a movement of creativity, compassion, and solutions. The 2025 edition attracted 355 participants from 24 countries, each showcasing fresh perspectives and innovative thinking. From video presentations to working prototypes, each submission reflects a new way technology can transform lives.
Inspiring Innovations for a Better Tomorrow
The ideas span an impressive spectrum, from wearable tech – like high-tech glasses that transform sound into visual cues and sports helmets with integrated hearing technology – to sustainability-driven solutions such as solar-powered hearing aids and motion-charged processors. Accessibility and safety were also key themes, with inventions including bracelets to detect environmental sounds, apps that translate speech into sign language, and pendants that vibrate for incoming calls or emergencies. Meanwhile, other creative concepts tackled everyday challenges, featuring devices to track lost processors, tools for recording and replaying sounds, and innovations powered by renewable energy sources like solar and kinetic energy.
Young Inventors, Big Ideas: Meet the Winners of IDEASforEARS 2025
And the winners are: The spotlight shines on ten exceptional young minds, whose ideas stood out for their creativity, practicality, and heart. Here is the lineup of winners whose inventive designs captured global attention:
Amanda Cunha de Mello, 10 years old, from Brazil
Arabella Lillian Romsa, 12 years old, from the United States
Camila Marelli, 9 years old, from Argentina
Ian Froilan Alarcón Suárez, 11 years old, from Colombia
Joshua Obadin, 12 years old, from Nigeria
Aurora Schiazza, 9 years old, from Italy
María Mattos Santisteban, 7 years old, from Spain
Mathilde Santuber Sinnig, 8 years old, from Germany
Pola Binienda, 8 years old, from Poland
Yintao Fan, 12 years old, from China
Geoffrey Ball: “These Kids Are the Future”
Geoffrey Ball, inventor of the VIBRANT SOUNDBRIDGE and Head Judge of IDEASforEARS, expressed his admiration for this year’s participants: “These kids do not just see limits – they see possibilities. Their curiosity, compassion, and fresh perspectives remind us that innovation begins with imagination and the courage to turn challenges into solutions. Every submission tells a story of a child who saw a problem and dared to find a solution. IDEASforEARS shows us that innovation starts young, driven by the boundless energy of young minds and the desire to make a real impact on the world.”
A Trip to Inspire: Innsbruck Awaits
For these winners, the journey is just beginning. This June, they will travel to Innsbruck, Austria, MED-EL’s global headquarters, to meet their fellow inventors and explore the world of hearing innovation up close. This prize is about more than recognition – this experience offers the chance to connect with like-minded peers, share ideas, witness first-hand the innovation behind MED-EL’s life-changing hearing technologies, and inspire the next generation of changemakers.
Follow Their Journey
Since its launch in 2017, IDEASforEARS has received over 1,700 ideas from more than 45 countries worldwide, showcasing creative approaches to hearing innovation. Keep up with this year’s winners’ exciting adventure and explore their inspiring inventions on the IDEASforEARS Facebook page. Watch as young minds shape the future of hearing – one idea at a time.
About MED-EL
MED-EL Medical Electronics, a leader in implantable hearing solutions, is driven by a mission to overcome hearing loss as a barrier to communication and quality of life. The Austrian-based, privately owned business was co-founded by industry pioneers Ingeborg and Erwin Hochmair, whose ground-breaking research led to the development of the world’s first micro-electronic multi-channel cochlear implant (CI), which was successfully implanted in 1977 and was the basis for what is known as the modern CI today. This laid the foundation for the successful growth of the company in 1990, when they hired their first employees. To date, MED-EL has more than 2,900 employees from around 90 nations and 30 locations worldwide.
The company offers the widest range of implantable and non-implantable solutions to treat all types of hearing loss, enabling people in 137 countries enjoy the gift of hearing with the help of a MED-EL device. MED-EL’s hearing solutions include cochlear and middle ear implant systems, a combined electric acoustic stimulation hearing implant system, auditory brainstem implants as well as surgical and non-surgical bone conduction devices. www.medel.com
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Doz. DI Dr DDr med. h.c. Ingeborg Hochmair
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