U.S. Department of Energy Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC)
Team Name: Washington Wave
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Team deliverables
- Poster: Real Wave/Virtual Wave: Ocean Observation Powered by Wave Energy
- Presentation: Real Wave: Ocean Observation Powered by Wave Energy
- Report: Real Wave: Ocean Observation Powered by Wave Energy
Vision and mission: Why this competition?
Marine energy combines both of our passions: the ocean and renewable energy. Between the rowers, oceanographers and people who grew up around the ocean on our team, we have a collective passion for the ocean and protecting the environment. Additionally, we believe that one of the keys to combating climate change is developing renewable energy. We envision a future where the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals are powered by clean energy.
Washington Wave seeks to contribute to the economics, social equity, and sustainable development of the blue economy by participating in the Marine Energy Collegiate Competition. We also hope to use the competition to expand each individual’s skill set through collaborating, designing and researching a marine energy device as a team. Working on this project allows us to combine our two passions and work together to advance a growing sector.
Background
Our objective is to create a business plan that focuses on how additional power contributes to the values of ocean observing stakeholders while advancing our understanding of wave energy conversion and moored oceanographic systems. Our project focuses on powering oceanographic sensors with a moored, rotating-mass wave energy converter. This would increase power availability relative to existing oceanographic moorings, thereby expanding sensing capabilities, reducing dependence on batteries, and enabling processing and telemetry of real-time data.
Strategy
Our strategy is to rely heavily on stakeholder interviews to shape the business plan. Our proximity to the Salish Sea and oceanographic research at the University of Washington provides an opportunity to connect with many stakeholders. We believe that stakeholder interviews are essential to understanding which of the many possible benefits associated with additional power represent the strongest drivers for product development.
Our largest strength is the interdisciplinary nature of our team. With five different departments represented, we can apply an expanded knowledge base to approach the multifaceted problem of designing a device for the blue economy. Our diverse academic backgrounds and experiences allow us to relate to stakeholders and better understand how to translate their needs into our design.
One challenge our team has faced this year is a high turnover from last year, which has revealed the necessity for onboarding. In the first few months after team formation, we spent time making sure everyone was on the same page. We have placed an emphasis on clear documentation of, for example, meeting minutes, task distribution, and decision making) to better inform future teams.
To efficiently develop our prototype, we are decoupling the activities involved in prototyping the the wave energy converter’s hull hydrodynamics and the power take-off control. This will help us to break down the complexity of the dynamics of a rotating-mass wave energy converter into simpler components that will inform a next-generation, integrated prototype.
Social media accounts
LinkedIn: Washington Wave Marine Energy Collegiate Competition Team
Instagram: @uwmecc
This portal is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) under Contract Number DE- AC36-08GO28308 with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Contract Number DE-AC05-76RL01830 with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Contract Number DE-NA0003525 with Sandia National Laboratories, as part of the MHK Data Communities project. The United States Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.