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Utility Interval Opens for Annual Marine Vitality and Hydropower Competitions, Which Problem Faculty College students To Discover Actual-World Options and Discover Profession Pathways
Calling all pupil innovators seeking to make waves within the water energy sector! The appliance home windows for the Hydropower Collegiate Competitors (HCC) and Marine Vitality Collegiate Competitors at the moment are open. Submissions will likely be accepted by way of Sept. 19, 2025.
Managed by NREL and funded by the U.S. Division of Vitality’s Water Energy Applied sciences Workplace (WPTO), the competitions empower collegiate groups to resolve advanced marine vitality and hydropower challenges for an opportunity to win money prizes.
“These competitions are designed to seek out options for actual vitality challenges,” mentioned Elise DeGeorge, NREL’s lead mission supervisor for HCC. “By providing hands-on expertise and trade connections, the competitions can open doorways and assist college students acquire perception into the expansive profession alternatives in water energy.”
Hydropower Collegiate Competitors Highlights
Roughly one quarter of the U.S. hydropower workforce is nearing retirement, and HCC helps pave the way in which for a brand new era of innovators and entrepreneurs who need to advance hydropower applied sciences, make connections, study from mentors, and uncover a profession path in hydropower.
The HCC 2026 competitors, administered by NREL, goals to deal with hydropower challenges and discover alternatives utilizing real-world idea improvement experiences. Groups should choose from three improvement themes: in-conduit, non-powered dam, and pumped storage hydropower techniques.
The competitors, which culminates within the spring of 2026 with a presentation of hydropower ideas to a panel of trade specialists, consists of 5 required challenges and one non-obligatory problem.
Required Challenges
- Siting Problem: Groups carry out a hydropower web site choice course of adopted by a feasibility evaluation for his or her chosen web site.
- Design Problem: Groups both create a conceptual design of their chosen web site or full an in depth design for a person part or system associated to the event of their chosen web site from the siting problem.
- Neighborhood Connections Problem: Groups make connections with hydropower trade professionals and communities to deepen their studying.
- Design and Siting Poster Problem: Groups create a poster summarizing their efforts all through the competitors, to be offered on the ultimate occasion.
- Fast Pitch Problem: Groups put together a 90-second pitch that communicates the most important takeaways from their year-long efforts.
Non-obligatory Problem
- Construct and Check Problem: Groups construct and take a look at a scaled prototype of their idea.
As much as 15 groups will likely be chosen to compete for money prizes. Groups that take part in all required challenges will likely be eligible for as much as $15,000 every in money awards and can compete for a part of the $20,000 grand prize money pool. Groups that compete within the non-obligatory problem will every be eligible for an extra $5,000 money prize.
Marine Vitality Collegiate Competitors Highlights
With know-how developments, marine vitality can energy functions like autonomous automobiles for ocean exploration, battery and gas cell know-how for marine transportation, and water remedy for coastal and island communities. MECC empowers pupil groups to assist form the way forward for marine vitality by creating options for coastal and maritime markets.
MECC groups will compete to resolve challenges and acquire expertise within the rising marine vitality trade. The 2026 MECC has two distinct participation leagues:
- Kilowatt League, for groups new to the competitors or these choosing a extra versatile participation expertise.
- Megawatt League, for groups looking for the complete MECC expertise with all challenges.
The competitors presents six challenges, together with 4 scored challenges and two non-obligatory unscored challenges. The Megawatt League should compete in all 4 scored challenges, and the Kilowatt League can choose from a mixture of scored challenges.
Scored Challenges
- Enterprise Plan Problem: Groups establish a promising market, create a marketing strategy, and decide one of the best marine vitality system to serve that market’s wants.
- Technical Design Problem: Groups design a marine-energy-powered system to serve shoppers inside the workforce’s chosen market.
- Construct and Check Problem: Groups construct and take a look at a scaled prototype of their system.
- Neighborhood Connections Problem: Groups make connections with marine vitality trade professionals and communities to deepen their studying.
Bonus Challenges
- Poster Problem: Groups create a poster summarizing their efforts all through the competitors, to be offered on the ultimate occasion.
- Fast Pitch Problem: Groups have 90 seconds to current their idea and findings from the challenges to attendees on the ultimate occasion.
“At this time’s school college students will form tomorrow’s marine vitality applied sciences,” mentioned Arielle Cardinal, NREL lead mission supervisor for MECC. “We’re excited to assist them kick off their plans for the longer term by offering a platform for designing, creating, and testing precise marine vitality know-how.”
As much as 30 groups will likely be chosen to compete for money prizes. Every league, Kilowatt and Megawatt, presents a separate award pool. Groups that full all required challenges will every be eligible to obtain as much as $5,000 in money awards per submission package deal. Groups that efficiently take part in all required challenges may even be eligible to compete for the grand prize award of as much as $20,000.
How To Compete
Undergraduate and graduate college students from postsecondary establishments—together with faculties, universities, group faculties, and commerce faculties—are invited to use for each competitions. Purposes don’t require preliminary analysis or engineering.
Purposes for HCC and MECC should be submitted by Sept. 19, 2025. Submissions will likely be reviewed by a panel of specialists and groups will likely be chosen by Sept. 24, 2025.
College students and college all for taking part within the 2026 competitions are inspired to view the official competitors guidelines to study extra about submission necessities, necessary dates, and eligibility:
Keep updated on different thrilling analysis by subscribing to The SPLASH, NREL’s latest publication for water energy science, know-how, engineering, and arithmetic (STEM).
Study extra about STEM careers and workforce improvement alternatives on the Hydropower STEM Portal and Marine Vitality STEM Portal.
Article from NREL.
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