The eleven winners of the first round of the Ocean Observing Prize were announced last week in a joint press release from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They include:
- Wave energy startup CalWave Power Technologies Inc
- Oceanographic startup Del Mar Oceanographic
- Ocean thermal energy startup Seatrec
- A student team from Virginia Tech
- A team from Northrup Grumman
- Marine technology startup Ocergy
- A student team from the University of Pittsburgh
- A student team from MIT
- Marine engineering firm Navatek
- Wave energy consultancy WaveVenture
You can read more about the winners and all the other competitors at the American-Made Challenge Website.
These eleven winners won a collective $125,000 for submitting novel ideas that integrate marine renewable energy systems with ocean observing platforms and sensors. The grand prize of $25,000 went to a wave energy startup based out of Oakland, CA called CalWave for proposing a concept that uses an inflatable buoy as a communications outpost and recharging station for autonomous underwater vehicles. Looking at the the short video pitches from all the winners, it seems that the ideas covered a wide array of ocean observing platforms with lots of interest in surface buoys and autonomous vehicles.
What’s Next for the Ocean Observing Prize?
This first round of the Ocean Observing Prize was focused on ideation and asked innovators to submit ideas within five broad ocean observing thematic areas. The quality and quantity of ideas in this first round help inform the content for the next stage of the Ocean Observing Prize, called the DEVELOP Competition. While the first round of the Ocean Observing Prize had five different themes, the upcoming DEVELOP Competition will focus on a challenge in just one of these themes.
We can expect two new contests through the Ocean Observing Prize as part of the DEVELOP Competition sometime in the near future which will task competitors to design and build systems within the selected theme. These new contests are open to a new batch of competitors, so if you missed the first round, you can still compete in subsequent rounds.
The Ocean Observing Prize website states that it will make upwards of $3 million in awards, so there remains 96% of the award on the table for innovators in these future contests. Keep a lookout for announcements on how to compete and earn some cash. If you haven’t already, make sure you follow the challenge on the HeroX website to receive updates.
I’m excited to see what the DOE and NOAA select as the theme for the next phase of the Ocean Observing Prize and all the cool innovations that it will produce. The Ocean Observing Prize is all about exploring new applications for marine energy besides powering the electrical grid, if you’re interested in understanding what this means check out this post.
