June 25, 2018

Allegheny Cleantech UP Competitors Participating in National Competition, June 27-28

From June 27-28, seven teams that competed in the Allegheny Cleantech University Prize Collegiate Competition, hosted by the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University Energy Week 2018, will travel to Houston, Texas to participate in the national Cleantech UP Competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy. At Rice University, the top clean technology startups in the nation will compete for $135,000 in prizes. Good luck to our teams:

• Boundary Laboratories (Case Western Reserve University) is using plasma technology to reduce the drag of wind turbines, making wind power more efficient and affordable. [Third place and winner of a $5,000 prize.]
• Ecotone Renewables (CMU) aims to produce, distribute and dispose of food locally and sustainably via a solar-powered aquaponics system and an anaerobic digestion system running off of food waste. [Second place and winner of a $10,000 prize.]
• ExperiML (CMU) uses the latest advances in experiment design and artificial intelligence to reduce the number of trial-and-error iterations by one to two orders of magnitude to discover better material and product designs for batteries and other energy-related applications. 
• gridfruit's (CMU) intelligent software controls and monitors the operation of refrigeration systems at commercial buildings to reduce their energy bills and maintenance cost for food service and food sell industries. 
• Omnitricity (CMU) provides charging choices for electric vehicle users by combining a mobile application and a unique location provider for the charging network. 
• spotLESS Materials LLC (formerly WasteLESS Tech - Penn State University) has developed a sprayable, anti-biofouling surface coating to reduce flush water usage and to prevent bacteria accumulation. [First place and winner of a $50,000 prize.]
• ZenCharge (Drexel University) is a revolutionary, all-inclusive technology that can simultaneously develop renewable energy, combat pollution, and promote natural conservation by utilizing plant-generated electricity.

Read more about the national competition