The U.S. Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), announced 15 teams selected to participate in the first ever Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC).
The MECC challenges interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of programs to identify new market opportunities and ways for marine energy to reduce energy limitations across the growing blue economy.
The students can choose to explore desalination, offshore marine aquaculture, ocean observation, or any of the other markets identified in DOE’s “Powering the Blue Economy” report.
Teams of undergraduate and graduate students will get real-world experience exploring these innovative marine energy solutions to address power needs across the blue economy. Students will:
Teams will deliver their written submissions, market assessment, business pitches, and preliminary technology designs for their chosen market opportunity at ICOE in Washington, D.C., in May.
The Pacific Marine Energy Center and Oregon State University’s Design Engineering Laboratory will host a webinar for the teams on November 20, 2019 to walk through different methodologies that will guide students through the design process.
The colleges and universities selected to take part are:
Columbia University, partnering with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University University of New Mexico College of the Florida Keys University of Minnesota – Duluth, partnering with University of Minnesota – Twin Cities Universidad Ana G. Mendez University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Delhi Technological University University of New Hampshire North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Massachusetts Institute of Technology, partnering with Virginia Tech and the University of The West Indies Cave Hill Campus Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems at Virginia Tech University of Hawaii at Manoa University of California, Berkeley University of North Florida Boise State University