DOE's 2018 National Cleantech University Prize Competition Wrap Up

The Department of Energy's 2018 National Cleantech University Prize Collegiate Competition concluded on June 28 in Houston, TX. The winning technology from ETC Solar of Caltech is a novel solar cell architecture that increases solar panel efficiency by five percent. NUMiX Materials from Northwestern University (pictured above) came in second place with its water purification technology to remove toxic metals from water. Beltech from the University of Chicago won the new Department of Defense (DoD) prize. Beltech’s technology is a new lithium-ion battery technology that reduces battery costs by up to 50 percent and increases battery energy density up to three times.

Allegheny Cleantech UP Grand Prize Winner Competes in DoD Finals

Allegheny Cleantech UP Competition's grand prize winner, spotLESS Materials LLC (formerly WasteLESS Tech) from Penn State University, made it to the final round of the Department of Defense Competition track of the 2018 Cleantech UP Competition. The team invented a sprayable, anti-biofouling surface coating to reduce flush water usage and to prevent bacteria accumulation.

Seven teams from the Allegheny Cleantech UP Competition (pictured above) participated in the event. The regional competition was hosted by the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at CMU on April 6 during CMU Energy Week. The teams were:

• Boundary Laboratories (Case Western Reserve University);
• Ecotone Renewables (CMU);
• ExperiML (CMU);
• gridfruit (CMU);
• Omnitricity (CMU);
• spotLESS Materials LLC (Penn State University); and
• ZenCharge (Drexel University).

Although none of these teams won, some made critical connections with potential investors by competing in the national competition. 

Thank you to Rice University for hosting and to VentureWell for educating all the competitors to help them advance their technologies!