Student Competition Targets the Global Energy Crisis
The University of Tennessee "Volantis" team is shown after winning Global Venture Challenge 2008 and the grand prize of $25,000. Pictured (L to R) are students Brad Russell and Danny Norman, faculty advisor Pat Richardson, students William Ambrose and Ned Morgan, and faculty advisor Glenn Swift. High-resolution version of photo
Thirteen university teams and one high-school team converged on Oak Ridge National Laboratory April 2-4 as semi-finalists vying for top honors in Global Venture Challenge 2008 (GVC), an idea-to-product competition that focused on technologies to solve the world's growing energy problems. ORAU was an Innovator Sponsor of GVC.
Diverse panels of energy executives, venture capitalists, legal experts, researchers and entrepreneurs judged the teams' submissions.
The University of Tennessee (UT) “Volantis” team took the $25,000 grand prize for V-Floe, a super-hydrophobic coating for ship hulls to reduce friction and drag, improve flotation and deter barnacle and algae growth.
Tying for first runner-up, the UT “Airflow Hybrid” team received $7,500 for their energy-saving Airflow hybrid water heater. The Merrimack High School, Merrimack, N.H., “Biodiesel Crew” team also won first runner-up and likewise received $7,500 for the BioBuddy microbiodiesel processor.
The University of California, Berkeley, "nPrint Solutions" team took third place and $2,500 for novel fuel bio-additives.
Also honored as finalists were the University of Texas “Longhorn FuelTech” team for Bevo-MEA, technologies to reduce the cost and improve the performance of direct methanol fuel cells, and Cornell University for AquaGen1, a water generator for use in humid climates where potable water is not readily available.
Finalist and semi-finalist teams that did not win a spot in the top three were awarded $750 per team.
Finalists
First Place Team: University of Tennessee "Volantis"
Team Members: William Ambrose, Nathan (Ned) Morgan, Daniel Norman, Joel Riddle, Bradford Russell
Faculty Advisor(s): Glenn Swift, Pat Richardson
Product Description: A super-hydrophobic coating for container ships that will decrease friction and drag, improve flotation and deter algae, barnacles and organic growth that slows oceanic travel and reduces fuel efficiency
Team Profile: UT Volantis
Second Place Team (tie): University of Tennessee "Airflow Hybrid"
Team Members: Jim Bell, Bryan Moore, Jyotirmoy Dwivedi
Faculty Advisor(s): Pat Richardson, Glenn Swift
Product Description: A product that uses heat-pump technology and a drop-in element to pump heat from the surrounding air into a water heater
Team Profile: UT Airflow Hybrid
Second Place Team (tie): Merrimack High School "Biodiesel Crew"
Team Members: Gina Chaput, Robert Harris, Kevin Johansen, Nicholas Kanakis, Erica Lawson, Margaret McCormick, Brandon McDonald, Andrew Paiz, Randall Perrine
Faculty Advisor(s):Tray Sleeper, Sean Muller
Product Description: A commercial, micro-biodiesel processor that allows individuals to make 500 ml to 4 liters of biodiesel without the risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals
Team Profile: Merrimack Biodiesel Crew
Third Place Team (tie): University of California at Berkeley "nPrint Solutions"
Team Members: Abhijit Bhattacharya, Howard Chou, Jeffrey Dietrich, Eric Steen, Shruti Yadav
Faculty Advisor(s): Jay Keasling
Product Description: A broad set of novel bio-additives that can be mixed with petroleum-based fuels or biofuels to improve their performance
Team Profile: UC Berkeley nPrint Solutions
Team: Cornell University "TS Hydro"
Team Members: Sasikrishnan Kalyanaramasubramanian, Trevor Wirsig
Faculty Advisor(s): A.M. Center
Product Description: An energy-efficient water generating unit that produces clean water from humid air using an ammonia refrigeration system to condense water
Team Profile: Cornell TS Hydro
Team: University of Texas at Austin "Longhorn FuelTech"
Team Members: Gary Hanson, Glangchai Luz Cristal, Jason Moore, Mark Olney
Faculty Advisor(s): Steven Nichols
Product Description: Two technologies to reduce the cost and improve the performance of direct methanol fuel cells
Team Profile: UT Austin Longhorn FuelTech
Semi-Finalists
Team: University of Akron "OptimoLux"
Team Members: Gulnar Feerasta, Kenneth Milam, Andrew Nathan, Bryn Siegel
Faculty Advisor(s): R. Ray Gehani
Product Description: A custom-contoured optimally designed, thin-film flexible solar-powered street light that will help reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil supplies and provide an attractive environmentally friendly renewable energy technology
Team: Imperial College, London "RangeTech"
Team Members: Edward Brightman, Darren Chadwick, Paul Shearing
Faculty Advisor(s): Nigel Brandon
Product Description: A fuel cell system for the home that will be marketed as a prestige kitchen range stove that will provide a central heating and cooking facility while generating baseline electricity and running off the domestic natural gas supply
Team: Johns Hopkins University "Re-CHarGe"
Team Members: Seth Jonas, John Pisciotta
Faculty Advisor(s): Benjamin Hobbs
Product Description: A rip current hydroelectric generator that uses a body of water’s natural rip currents to generate emission-free electricity while providing a pre-positioned warning and rescue system charged directly by the danger zone
Team: Louisiana Tech University "RefineX"
Team Members: Steven Bearden, Joshua Brown, Joseph Cannon, Fernando Puno, Joshua Raley
Faculty Advisor(s): Chester Wilson
Product Description: RefineX, a catalyzed conversion system that will refine liquid fuels, such as diesel, from the gases emitted by landfills
Team: Missouri University of Science and Technology "STEP in the Right Direction"
Team Members: Ben Brannon, Jacob Colbert, Chris Krueger, Joel Lamson, Kerry Poppa, Joseph Schaefer, Lucas Sudkamp, Christopher Wright
Faculty Advisor(s): Stuart Baur, Katie Grantham Lough, Robert Stone
Product Description: The Solar Thermal Electric Panel (STEP) system, a hybridization of a solar electric panel with a solar thermal collector, that will convert more energy than separate-panel systems
Team: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale "Saluki CEO Corps"
Team Members: Cassie Bishop, Arjun Pathak
Faculty Advisor(s): Maryon King
Product Description: A product that uses the principles of magnetic refrigeration and incorporates a new compound (Nickel, Manganese, Copper, and Gallium -- NiMnCuGa) to provide a more efficient cooling technique
Team: University of Virginia "ecoMOD Monitoring System"
Team Members: Ernest Bowden, Benjamin Kidd
Faculty Advisor(s): Paxton Marshall
Product Description: A small wireless system that monitors residential electricity consumption as well as several other factors such as indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity, indoor CO2 levels and carbon monoxide
Team: Purdue University "ZEHVUR"
Team Members: Charles Allen, Go Choi, Jeffrey Ziebarth
Faculty Advisor(s): Jerry Woodall
Product Description: The ZEVHUR [zěf'ər] -- zero-emission hydrogen vehicle utilizing recycled aluminum -- a small personal transport vehicle that derives its energy from recycled aluminum