Office of Technology Transitions EnergyTech University Prize 2022-2023

Congratulations to the three teams who were just named winners in the EnergyTech University Prize 2023! 

On April 3, 16 competing student teams presented their business plans at the EnergyTech UP National Pitch Event during Zpryme’s Energy Thought Summit in Austin, Texas. The winners were announced at the summit by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT).

The three teams awarded cash prizes are:

• 1st Place, awarded $50,000: Team Heliotrope, New York University: This team is developing efficiency-boosting coatings that increase solar panel efficiency by 10-15%.
• 2nd Place, awarded $30,000: Team ReLi, University of Virginia: This team presented a business plan to recycle all forms of lithium-ion batteries to recover critical materials and reintroduce them back into the supply chain by leveraging national lab technologies. 
• 3rd Place, awarded $20,000: Team Icorium, The University of Kansas: This team is utilizing membrane technology and extractive distillation to separate and recycle complex refrigerant mixtures at the end of their life. 

Read the full announcement here.

OTT extends their congratulations to the national winners and appreciates the work that all of the 184 teams put into this year’s successful competition. 

OTT also announced that planning for next year’s competition is already underway! Anyone interested in competing or supporting a team next year can follow the EnergyTech UP HeroX page for updates and information. 

Congratulations to the EnergyTech UP 2023 National Winners and all other participating students!

The exciting finale of the EnergyTech University Prize 2023 is happening next week. Whether you’re headed to Zpryme’s Energy Thought Summit in Austin, Texas, or you want to watch the National Pitch Event virtually, join us on Monday, April 3, to hear the student pitches and live winner announcement!

Check out all the event details, including the team presentation schedule. 

The prize’s 16 final competitors will be presenting their innovative energy-focused business pitches to a panel of industry judges on Monday, April 3, from 8:15 a.m.–2:15 p.m. CT. Anyone attending the conference is invited to join in person—then join the big winner announcement at that evening’s closing event around 5:30 p.m. CT!

If you won’t be attending Energy Thought Summit in person, you can still catch all the action live—including student pitches and the winner announcement—via livestream. Or check back here after the event to catch up on which teams earned National Winner titles and a share of the $100,000 prize pool! 

Good luck to all the competing teams—we look forward to seeing you in Austin!

The final event of the EnergyTech University Prize 2023 is happening Monday, April 3, at Zpryme’s Energy Thought Summit in Austin, Texas! 

At the National Pitch Event, the prize’s 15 Regional Winners and one National Lab Technology IP Licensing Bonus Prize Winner will present their innovative energy-focused business pitches to a panel of industry judges in the hopes of  becoming a National Winner and winning one of three awards: 

• 1^st place: $50,000
• 2^nd place: $30,000
• 3^rd place: $20,000

During the live pitches, each team will have 10 minutes to present, followed by five minutes of Q&A from the judges. After pitches conclude, judges will deliberate and select the top three teams. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions will then announce winners live around 5:30 p.m. CT.

In addition, four Bonus Prize Winners will present for 5 minutes during a lunchtime plenary. 

Learn more about the event, view the schedule of team pitches, and - on April 3, access the link to the event livestream. After the event concludes, we will post here—on HeroX—which teams are named National Winners. Good luck to all the competing teams!   

Eight EnergyTech University Prize Bonus Prize Winners have been selected and awarded $25,000 each! Please join us in congratulating the winning teams.

Bonus Prize Finalists were selected by regional Explore Event judges in different technology areas. The corresponding U.S. Department of Energy technology offices then reviewed the presentations and selected relevant Bonus Prize Winners from amongst the finalists.

The Office of Technology Transitions selected the following National Lab Technology IP Licensing Bonus Prize Winner:

• Prairie View A&M University and the University of Houston, “Revolutionizing Hydrogen with Ceramic Membranes”

This team and the 15 Regional Winners will now move onto the Refine Phase to further hone their business plans in advance of the EnergyTech UP National Pitch Event at Zpryme’s Energy Thought Summit in Austin, Texas, on April 3. After the pitches conclude, judges will select a first-place National Winner to be awarded $50,000; a second-place National Winner to be awarded $30,000; and a third-place winner to be awarded $20,000.  

Additionally, eight teams were chosen as Technology Bonus Prize Winners and awarded $25,000 each for their compelling solutions that leverage specific technologies:

• Geothermal: Team Visionergy, University of Maryland, “Cow Cooling Before Climate Catastrophe”
• Electricity / Grid Enhancing Technologies: Team RLGrid, Cornell University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “RLGrid: AI-Driven Grid Management and Expansion”
• Electricity / Large Power Transformers: The University of Texas at Austin, “Solid-State Transformer for the New Electric Grid”
• Fossil Energy and Carbon Management: Team Biocharm, Appalachian State University, “Biocharm - the Pursuit of Carbon Negative Concrete”
• National Lab Technology IP Licensing: Prairie View A&M University and the University of Houston, “Revolutionizing Hydrogen with Ceramic Membranes”
• Nuclear Energy: Boise State University, “Additively Manufactured Sensors for Nuclear Energy”
• Solar Energy: Team UW Madison Helios, University of Wisconsin-Madison, “Low-Cost Heliostat for CSP and PV”
• Water Power: Team Magnetic Gears for Wave Energy, Texas A&M University, “Magnetic Gears to Unlock Wave Energy”

These teams are invited to attend Energy Thought Summit in Austin, Texas, on April 3 to optionally present their business plans at a lunchtime plenary session and network with industry attendees but will not be competing in the National Pitch Event. 

Learn more about all winning teams and what’s next in the competition. Join us in congratulating the EnergyTech UP 23 Bonus Prize Winners! 

The regional Explore Events have concluded, and we are pleased to announce the 15 Regional Winners of the EnergyTech University Prize 2023! The Regional Winners, who were awarded $3,000 each, are as follows (listed in alphabetical order by team name):

• Battery Doctor, The University of Alabama
• Bio-Based Terrazzo, University of Louisville
• Carbon to Stone, Cornell University
• Carbonbusters, Purdue University
• Direct Recycling of Battery Manufacturing Waste, The Ohio State University and The University of Akron
• Electromaim, The George Washington University
• Flux XII, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Heliotrope, New York University
• LiQuidium, University of Houston 
• Low Temperature Hydrothermal Synthesis, University of California, San Diego
• Pike Robotics, The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston 
• Refrigerant Recycling with Membrane Technology, The University of Kansas
• ReLi, The University of Virginia
• Rockfix, Stanford University and Harvard University
• Wildflower Project, Oregon Institute of Technology

These teams will now move to the Refine Phase, where they will prepare to compete for the winner title and a share of the $100,000 prize pool. Bonus Prize Winners will be announced March 7.  

Join us in congratulating the winners! We look forward to seeing their fresh ideas presented at the National Pitch Event at Zpryme’s Energy Thought Summit in Austin, Texas, this April.