Announcing the 2025 Student Design Competition Winners!

The Student Design Competition, an event designed to inspire students from Architecture, Engineering, Physics, and related fields, highlighted the power of acoustical design. This year, student teams were challenged to design a performance space where acoustics take center stage—both literally and figuratively.

The 2025 design scenario invited students to create a 700-seat theatre for a college with strong programs in drama, vocal performance, and dance. The theatre would serve primarily for dramatic productions and musicals but would also host speaking engagements. Review the complete design scenario here.

Held during the 188th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, in conjunction with the 25th International Congress on Acoustics, the competition featured 12 compelling submissions. Each entry showcased exceptional technical merit, design vision, innovation, and presentation effectiveness, demonstrating the depth of creativity and rigor among future professionals in the field.

Thanks to the generous support of the Wenger Foundation through the Newman Student Award Fund, the competition awarded a First Honors prize of $3000 USD and four Commendation Awards of $1000 USD each.

We are excited to announce this year’s winners:

First Honors

LOPEZ THEATER
Matt Ripley & Kevin Messinger – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Advisor: David Kahn

ORB
Tilda Johansson, Madeleine Järlbrink, Avijah Neumann – Chalmers University of Technology
Advisors: Wolfgang Kropp, Morten Lund, Peter Christensson

DRAPERY THEATRE
Ida Jansson, Tea Johansson, Shko Mirza – Chalmers University of Technology
Advisors: Wolfgang Kropp, Morten Lund, Peter Christensson

STAGE B
Lukas Holmberg, Dimitri Rampotas, Alva Fährlin – Chalmers University of Technology
Advisors: Wolfgang Kropp, Morten Lund, Peter Christensson

THE GRID
Erik Moberg, Arvid Sigurdsson – Chalmers University of Technology
Advisors: Wolfgang Kropp, Morten Lund, Peter Christensson