The University of Houston -- The Energy University -- is relentless in its efforts to prepare students to address the world’s most critical energy issues.

This dedication was on full display during the third annual Energy Innovation Commercialization Competition.

“The journey to achieve net zero goals and address the various challenges in energy requires lots of technical innovations and their subsequent commercialization,” said S. Radhakrishnan, a retired University of Houston business professor and coordinator of UH Energy’s Innovation Commercialization Competition. “Academic institutions have a critical role to play in this endeavor, and competitions like these show that the University of Houston is clearly committed to challenging the way people look at solutions.”

With this in mind, Radhakrishnan continues to help grow an event where the latest iteration featured nearly 20 teams of students from a variety of disciplines. Their efforts have resulted in a spotlight on the latest energy-related research across UH that aspires to revolutionize the future of sustainable energy.

“We’re trying to rapidly accelerate the process of taking these scientific discoveries and inventions and move them into commercial space so they can create societal value,” said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation.

After the field was narrowed down to five promising ideas, the five finalist teams pitched their ideas to a panel of energy industry representatives. The presentations covered everything from microgrid solutions to battery management, repurposing wind turbines and more.

Jian Chen, a UH mechanical engineering doctoral student, and undergraduate mechanical engineering student Tico Hannah student took the top spot with a groundbreaking idea centered on a cost-efficient, next-generation method of using low-frequency stress waves to monitor lithium-ion batteries to deliver more accurate, independent and reliable information. The duo’s research seeks to improve operating conditions as well as battery safety, reliability and lifespan.

Advised by UH engineering professors Gangbing Song and Yan Yao, Hannah and Chen won a $25,000 award from competition sponsor Chevron that will help to further the research. Hannah said the funds would go toward developing their idea for broad impact.

“It's amazing that we accomplished this with just our mechanical engineering skills,” Hannah said. “Being able to pay for help from experts in other disciplines would greatly help us develop our concept to the next level. ”

Civil engineering doctoral student Nagesh Ramaswamy – advised by Song and UH civil engineering professor Larry Yi-Lung Mo – impressed the judges with his ingenious upcycling idea for wind turbine blades. The rapid expansion of wind power in the U.S. over the past decade has resulted in a growing number of decommissioned wind turbine blades, which present significant recycling challenges due to their composite structure, according to Ramaswamy.

Ramaswamy’s approach proposes repurposing the blades for civil infrastructure, significantly reducing emissions and energy consumption. Backed by structural testing, finite element modeling and design, fabrication, and construction methodology, the pitch took home runner-up honors.

“Initially, we had a very tough time finding funds for this project,” Ramaswamy said. “When we got this opportunity about this commercialization competition, we thought this is something we could utilize to showcase our work.”

Special recognition went to Amps-Up, a team with materials science and engineering doctoral student Chirag Goel, mechanical engineering doctoral student Harshit Singh and finance student Emily Unzer, for their work to upscale the availability of high-temperature superconducting tapes that can be used for numerous clean energy applications.. The team is advised by Venkat Selvamanickam, a UH mechanical engineering professor globally renowned for his groundbreaking research involving manufacturing technologies for thin film superconductor wire.

Amps-Up’s idea has already gotten the attention – and funding – from the U.S. Department of Energy, and the judges lauded their significant progress toward commercialization.

Other finalists:

• Rejoul – consisting of UH alum Mo Hossain, environmental engineering doctoral student Siddhartha Paul and entrepreneurship master's student Jenil Monpara. Their presentation focused on using sustainable biotechnology to extract critical metals from electronic waste such as end-of-life lithium-ion batteries.
• Optigrid – consisting of electrical engineering doctoral students Ann Mary Toms, Hassan Zahid Butt and Jin Lu; advised by Xingpeng Li, electrical and computer engineering professor. The group showcased their efforts on energy resource sizing and power management for smart microgrids.

UH Energy, an umbrella for all University of Houston’s energy-related initiatives and programs, focuses on encouraging academic contributions for the energy transition in three distinct areas: research, innovation and education. Part of that effort involves fostering opportunities for students to contribute new solutions to address key issues in energy.

“To be successful at this, we must help our faculty and students evolve beyond being just innovators,” Radhakrishnan said. “This requires a holistic approach that combines understanding business challenges, developing cutting edge technology, and commercializing in creative ways to accelerate adoption at scale. The main idea behind these competitions is coaching and guiding inventors toward approaching their innovations in a holistic way. Thus far, the results have been phenomenal, as outside investors have shown interest in a few of the ideas to help accelerate their commercialization plans.”

UH, a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university, encourages students at all levels to engage in innovative and meaningful research. It is this relentless commitment to student success, cutting-edge research and real-world impact that is driving the University closer to realizing its vision of becoming a top 50 public university in the nation.