SDU students win a trip to New York in a prestigious competition
Four Mechatronics undergraduates from SDU Sønderborg outperformed specialists and master's students in a high-profile audio technology competition – and won a dream trip to New York.
They called it "seven days in hell," but for four Mechatronics students – Dario Szel, Marius Țîlea, Benito Padilla and Daniel Borregaard – from SDU Sønderborg, it ended with a dream come true: winning the prestigious Audio Explorers competition organised by Demant.
As the least experienced team in the competition, they defied the odds with sheer determination, creativity, and a standout final report.
"We were the only team without specialists in the different fields," says Dario Szel.
The SDU team consisted of four mechatronics bachelor's students – generalists in a field where most other teams were specialists. Many of their competitors were studying at master's level, some had competed before, and one team even included a previous winner.
"The other teams had computer specialists and mechanical engineers – we were just four Mechatronics students. Jack of all trades, master of none – but better than nothing," laughs Daniel Borregaard.
Underdogs with the bigger picture
Audio Explorers 2025 is a technology innovation challenge hosted by hearing aid giant Demant. From all entries, 10 winning teams were selected to travel to New York on Demant's expense, where they would be equipped with wearable health monitors and sound level meters to investigate noise levels in one of the world's most iconic urban environments.
The competition comprised five challenges spanning software, electronics, mechanics, and embedded systems. The SDU team took on the software challenge: isolating an English-language conversation from a chaotic recording of nine languages picked up by 32 microphones arranged in a spherical setup.
"You've got ten people speaking nine different languages – two in English. When listening through all 32 microphones, you can barely hear the English conversation. That's what we had to extract," explains Marius Țîlea.
Pizza in a bag and 14-hour workdays
The first few days were disastrous. The team spent five days experimenting with various approaches – all of which failed. They survived on five kilograms of leftover pizza delivered by a friend in a yellow plastic bag.
"We worked 14 hours a day and lived off pizza. It was incredibly hard not to give up after the first few days," says Marius Țîlea.
But instead of giving up, the four students from Sønderborg dug deeper. They built a sophisticated algorithm pipeline and proved they could solve the challenge – despite competing against master's students and even former winners.
The report that saved the day
It was their methodical approach and outstanding report that secured the win. While other teams focused on delivering a final product, the SDU team impressed the judges with meticulous documentation of every approach they had tested.
"We wrote the report the best way we knew – and after writing so many at uni, you learn how to please the reader," the students say.
"We showed them how many things we tried and how deeply we considered every idea."
New York as a reward
The win earned them a week in New York, visiting technical museums, hi-tech companies, and meeting leading researchers. They participated in a packed programme of daily lessons from Demant's engineers, covering the company's R&D work.
"We had organised visits to companies, presentations on audiology, dinners every evening – but also free time to explore Manhattan," says Daniel Borregaard, describing the action-packed week.
From competitors to future colleagues
All four SDU students are now interested in working at Demant after graduation. They have maintained contact with the company's engineers and are actively working to bring more audio-related engineering projects to SDU.
Seven days in hell – again next year
Despite the intense experience – which they still call "seven days in hell" – all four students are eager to compete again next year. This time, as experienced participants who can help guide the next generation of Audio Explorers.
"We proved that we're good enough to get there – and we've now made a deal with Demant to help promote the event here next year," they say.
For SDU Sønderborg, the victory is a testament to the international calibre of its Mechatronics students – even when the odds are stacked against them.
"We proved that Mechatronics students from SDU Sønderborg can compete on an international level – even when the odds are against us," say the proud winners.