Two Galway students were part of a team which took the top prize in the Irish side of worldwide design and invention competition.
A student team called “Power Up” has won the Irish leg of the 2023 international “Invent for the Planet” design blitz competition.
They took home the top prize in Ireland for developing a prototype affordable energy generator which uses hydropower and wind power electricity that is stored in a battery.
The winning team comprises Xing Ying Chuang, third year Biomedical student at ATU Galway; Tom Hakizinka Senga, second year Mechanical Engineering student at Dundalk IT; Tenis Ranjan, Postgraduate student at University of Galway; Edbin Ostilio Buezo Zuniga, first year engineering student at ATU Sligo; and Ontiretse Ishmael, PhD computing, ATU,
“Based on our calculation, the power generated by this system in one hour can light up approximately 250 light bulbs”, they said, adding “we will all be using clean energy to keep our planet intact.”
For taking first place in the Irish leg of the competition, they were awarded a €5,000 prize.
Invent for the Plant is a 48-hour intensive design experience (IDE) that engages students at different universities around the world on a single weekend to solve high-impact, global problems.
Organised by Texas A&M University, it ran synchronously in 29 universities across 22 worldwide locations during the weekend 10 to 12 February.
ATU’s School of Engineering hosted the Irish leg of the competition for the second year in a row.
The top five worldwide teams will go on to compete in the final in Texas on 28 April, with the shortlist to be announced later this month.
Organiser Dr Jack Saad, Fulbright Faculty Scholar, Texas A&M, and lecturer in Robotics at ATU Galway, said that it was great to see students from different backgrounds coalesce into teams over the weekend.
“The event will leave an indelible mark on the participating students’ learning experience and will help given them the experience and confidence needed to overcome life’s challenges.”
The runner up “Eat Smart” team comprised of Caoimhe McCormack, first year Environmental Science student at ATU Sligo; Zain Ali, IT Master student at ATU Donegal; Vijay Kumar, IT Master student at ATU Donegal; and Jessica Henry, third year Software engineering year at ATU Sligo.
“Innovation is the key to solving our world’s most critical issues and at Eat Smart, we believe in using our creativity and drive to positively the planet,” the team said.
“We are proud to have received recognition for our solution to prevent food waste at the Invent for the Planet 2023 event and will continue to work towards a more sustainable future”.
In total 35 students competed from ATU (Galway, Donegal and Sligo campuses), University of Limerick, University of Galway, Munster Technological University (MTU), Technological University of Shannon (Tus) and Dundalk Institute of Technology.
