Prize finalists—multidisciplinary teams of post-secondary students from universities across the U.S.—pitched their innovative business plans to bring a DOE National Laboratory-developed or other high-potential energy technology to market.
Office of Technology Commercialization
August 26, 2025
minute read time
The next generation of energy entrepreneurs recently competed in the fourth round of the EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP). Student teams from across the country took home big checks for their grand ideas—and for many teams, this is just the beginning.
EnergyTech UP, known as a premiere platform for collegiate students aspiring toward a future in energy and innovation, hosted 23 finalist teams at the Colorado School of Mines to pitch their innovative business plans that featured National Laboratory-developed and other impactful technologies. The pitch event, hosted by U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE’s) Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), showcased some of the nation’s brightest minds, all competing for a share of over $300,000 in awards.
Innovation Solutions for an Array of Energy Types
This year, eight program offices within DOE offered bonus prizes for business plans that presented creative solutions to challenges facing their industries. From nuclear energy to grid resilience and critical minerals, teams rose to the occasion and pitched a range of ideas to a panel of industry reviewers and DOE leadership. Eleven bonus prizes worth $20,000 each were awarded from the following DOE offices:
- Arctic Energy Office
- Geothermal Technologies Office
- Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office
- Office of Electricity
- Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) Bonus Prize
- Power Electronics (PE) Bonus Prize
- Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Bonus Prize
- Office of Nuclear Energy
- Office of Technology Commercialization
- Undergraduate-Only Bonus Prize
- National Lab IP Licensing Bonus Prize
- Solar Energy Technologies Office
- Water Power Technologies Office
Working Together for a Brighter Future
The EnergyTech Up pitch competition was an opportunity for teams from all backgrounds to network with industry stakeholders, present on stage, and receive insightful feedback on their ideas from both peers and mentors. Whether students perfected their business plans for a one-time pitch or plan to commercialize their solutions, the event created opportunities to learn about overcoming commercialization challenges and grow their entrepreneurial capacity.
For Mohammad Fuad Hassan, member of team Seal the Deal from Georgia Southern University, participating in this competition was an important next step in his journey from education to the workforce.
“I want to make a career of it,” said Mohammad. “And for me to create a new network and learn how other people are actually getting into the market, it’s important to participate in these pitches.”
Awards and Recognition
The review panel included industry experts and DOE Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of OTC Anthony Pugliese. Following each pitch, the panel asked insightful questions and proposed unique applications for the students’ developed plans.
“Each team’s thoughtful and creative approach to their business plans showcases the power of young minds entering energy spaces across geothermal, grid, electricity delivery infrastructure, and more,” said DOE Chief Commercialization Officer Anthony Pugliese.
The top prizes were awarded to the following teams:
- First Place, awarded $50,000: Team Seal the Deal from Georgia Southern University. This team presented a novel seal design for supercritical carbon dioxide turbomachinery, addressing a critical bottleneck in next-generation nuclear and microreactor technologies.
- Second Place, awarded $35,000: Team AlchemII from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who presented their business plan on a combination of pyrolysis and electrolysis techniques to efficiently produce hydrogen and graphite in one pot.
- Third Place, awarded $25,000: Team Nanoborne from University of Texas at Austin, who presented a nanoparticle-surfactant technology designed to improve the control of subsurface fluid flow.
