Dartmouth Students Team Up to Compete in Ocean Energy Research Competition

Four students from the class of 2021 are part of an international team competing in the 2021 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition, a collaborative energy competition sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Lab and the Department of Energy. The competition is "designed to challenge interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate and graduate students to offer unique solutions to the burgeoning marine energy industry that can play a vital role in powering the blue economy." Specifically, the Dartmouth team's focus is on ocean thermal energy conversion technology (OTEC) and its implementation in Mexico. The team is working with undergraduate and graduate students from Mexico and is advised by scientists from CEMIE-Oceano, a leading marine energy institute in Mexico and Thayer School of Engineering. The team will present in front of NREL virtually in April of 2021. 
 
The team consists of four undergraduate students from Mexico and four 21's from Dartmouth. Emily Martinez '21 is an engineering modified with environmental earth sciences major co-captaining the team and developing the technical analysis of the project. Michelle Wang '21 is an engineering modified with earth sciences major writing and assisting with the business analysis. Eric Chen '21 is an electrical/computer engineering major analyzing the electrical grid integration of the project. Santiago Zamora Castillo '21 is an environmental sciences and computer sciences major analyzing the socioeconomic ramifications of the project. When approached by Emily to join the project, the 21's involved quickly joined due to a shared interest in sustainable energy development and international collaboration.
 
The team members received funding through the Irving Institute mini-grant program to help purchase software and support other aspects of the research project. You can follow the team's progress on Instagram at @OTEC_Internacional.