In October 2021, the inaugural year of the EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP) was launched by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT). It challenged student teams to develop and present a business plan that leverages DOE national laboratory-developed and other high-potential energy technologies while competing for more than $250,000 in cash prizes.
The top teams competed for a share of $100,000 in prizes funded by OTT. In addition, six DOE Technology Offices offered bonus prizes for the best teams in their respective fields. The six offices included:
- Building Technologies Office
- Geothermal Technologies Office
- Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
- Office of Nuclear Energy
- Solar Energy Technologies Office
- Water Power Technologies Office.
In February 2022, the prize administrators announced 180 teams from 113 schools would compete, representing 42 states across the United States, plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
During the first phase of the competition, students explored business and energy technology opportunities and presented their findings at one of 11 Explore Events, hosted by Regional Convening organizations, throughout February 2022. In total, 11 Regional Winners were awarded $2,500 each and moved on to the Refine Phase of the competition, where they were provided exclusive mentorship and free access to OTT's Energy I-Corps curriculum to help refine and improve their business plans.
During the Explore Events, 39 Technology Bonus Prize Semifinalists were also selected within six technology categories. After all semifinalists were selected, the DOE technology offices each selected one team to advance to the national competition as a finalist. Each of these teams was awarded $2,000 and invited to compete in the Refine and Pitch Phases alongside the Regional Winners.
The following teams were selected as Regional Winners and Technology Bonus Prize Finalists.
Region Regional Winners and Technology Bonus Prize Finalists Appalachia and South Regional Winner: Super Compact Wireless Charging Infrastructure (Self-Res Power), The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
California Regional Winner: Mechanochemical Recycling of LCO Batteries, Stanford University
Carolinas Regional Winner: Self-Powered Autonomous Robot for Power Lines, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Technology Bonus Prize Finalist: Solar Shepherds – Agrivoltaics Solutions, Appalachian State University
Great Lakes Regional Winner: Natrion, Boston College, Indiana University, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Technology Bonus Prize Finalists: Alpha Nur, The University of Chicago and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Mid-Atlantic Regional Winner: Lignolix: Unlocking the Value of Lignin, University of Delaware
Technology Bonus Prize Finalists: ElectroMain, The George Washington University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Washington University in St. Louis
New York Tri-State Area Regional Winner: Smart i-Floor, University of Connecticut
Technology Bonus Prize Finalists: Pantheon, A Carbon-Negative Cement Replacement, The State University of New York at Binghamton
Northeast Regional Winner: Plug-and-Play Nuclear Energy Generator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Technology Bonus Prize Finalists: Mesophase Steam Condensers, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northern Plains Regional Winner: Recycling of Spent Lithium Ion Batteries, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Southeast Regional Winner: Structural Piezoelectric Supercapacitors, University of Miami
Texas Regional Winner: Magnetic Gears – FluxWorks, Texas A&M University
West Regional Winner: Deployable Off-grid CSP Solar Thermal Desalination, University of Hawai'i
Technology Bonus Prize Finalists: Future Heat, The University of Utah
The Technology Bonus Prize Finalists were selected from the following semifinalists, selected for each of the regions.
REGION Technology Bonus Prize Semifinalists Appalachia and South - REMS, Mississippi State University
- Biofuel and Graphene from Biomass Wastes, Mississippi State University
- Hydrocarbon-to-Geothermal Well Conversion and CCS, Tulane University
- Eco-Friendly Energy Storage for Renewable Sources, Missouri University of Science and Technology
California - Low-Cost Carbon Capture, Ready for Scale-up, California Institute of Technology
- Leading Renewable Energy – Small Modular Reactors, University of California San Diego and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
- Fundusol, Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University
Carolinas - Appalachian Biochar, Appalachian State University
- GEOEXPLORE, Duke University
- Mifi-DC Systems – Microreactors for EV Trucking, Duke University
- Solar Shepherds – Agrivoltaics Solutions, Appalachian State University
Great Lakes - Affordable Housing Community Energy Storage, University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Kentucky
- Carbonbusters, Purdue University
- Alpha Nur, The University of Chicago and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Thermo Elephant Group, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Mid-Atlantic - Geothermal Cooling Solves Heat Stress Deaths, University of Maryland
- Flow Solutions, University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University
- ElectroMain, The George Washington University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Washington University in St. Louis
- Nuclear Heat Exchanger for Brine Treatment – Radical Energy and Materials, The Pennsylvania State University
- Skibo Thermal Energy Storage Solution w/CSP, Carnegie Mellon University
- Electrospun Photocatalytic Mats for Hydrogen Power, The Ohio State University
New York Tri-State Area - Pantheon, A Carbon-Negative Cement Replacement, The State University of New York at Binghamton
- Tri-Sol: A 3-in-1 Solar Skylight System, University of New Haven
Northeast - Electricity Production with Negative Emissions, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Mesophase Steam Condensers, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Plug-and-Play Nuclear Energy Generator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Roll-Up Roll-On Solar Panels, The University of Vermont
Northern Plains - Geothermal Descaling Advanced Technology, University of North Dakota
- Iowa State Mobile Microgrid, Iowa State University
Southeast - BitPump – Crypto Mining Heat Pump, Georgia Institute of Technology and George Mason University
- Combining Latest Tech to Accelerate PV Adoption, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Capturing Ammonia in Wastewater Applications, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Texas - Bison Underground – A Beneficial Synergy, Carbon Capture and Soil Health, The University of Oklahoma
- GeoEnergy, The University of Oklahoma
- Plug and Play SMR-Hydrogen Microgrid, The University of Texas at Dallas
- Solar Mineralis, The University of Tulsa
West - Future Heat, The University of Utah
- A.B.O. Sustainable Rare Earth Elements, University of Alaska Anchorage
- Energy Pod for Long Duration Energy Storage, Arizona State University
On March 24, 2022, the Regional Winners and Technology Bonus Prize Finalists all competed in a national pitch event in conjunction with Carnegie Mellon University's Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation's Energy Week. Nine total teams were selected as 2022 EnergyTech University Prize National and Technology Bonus Prize Winners.
2022 National Winners and Technology Bonus Prize Winners
The following teams have been selected as National Winners and Technology Bonus Prize Finalists.
| TEAM | SCHOOL(S) | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanochemical Recycling of LCO Batteries | Stanford University |
First-Place National Winner |
| Self-Powered Autonomous Robot for Power Lines | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |
Second-Place National Winner |
| Structural Piezoelectric Supercapacitors | University of Miami |
Third-Place National Winner |
| Future Heat | The University of Utah |
Technology Bonus Prize Winner |
| Pantheon | The State University of New York at Binghamton |
Technology Bonus Prize Winner |
| Mesophase | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Technology Bonus Prize Winner |
| Alpha Nur | The University of Chicago and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
Technology Bonus Prize Winner |
| Solar Shepherds | Appalachian State University |
Technology Bonus Prize Winner |
| Electromaim | The George Washington University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
Technology Bonus Prize Winner |
Learn More
Follow EnergyTech UP on HeroX, the official competition platform, for updates on the latest round of competition.