U.S. Department of Energy Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC)
Team Name: Osprey CREW (Cheap Reliable Energy from Waves)
University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida
Team deliverables
- Poster: Preliminary Design of Next Generation Wave Energy Converter (WEC) Based on Induction: OSPREY CREW (Cheap, Reliable Energy from Waves))
- Report: Preliminary Design of Next Generation Wave Energy Converter (WEC) Based on Induction: OSPREY CREW (Cheap, Reliable Energy from Waves)
- Presentation: Preliminary Design of Next Generation Wave Energy Converter (WEC) Based on Induction: OSPREY CREW (Cheap, Reliable Energy from Waves)
- Recording of virtual team presentation
Why this competition?
Participating in the U.S. Department of Energy Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) offers Osprey CREW the opportunity to develop an economical and sustainable way to harvest the ocean’s untapped energy potential. In addition, many team members have selected wave energy as their thesis topic, and this competition will augment their academic research and support their theses.
Project description
Osprey CREW will design a wave energy converter that is unique, reliable, cost-effective, durable, and simple to install.
Game plan
Osprey CREW will first evaluate electricity-producing systems and then conduct an environmental viability study to determine which system will function best in an ocean environment. In the design stage, the team members will generate ideas that best fit a variety of applications within the blue economy. In the validation stage, ideas will be confirmed and the device’s connection to isolated communities and coastal resiliency and disaster recovery defined through numerical calculations and computational fluid dynamics models. In the build stage, the team will construct a small-scale prototype of the final design, which will be presented at the competition. Adjacent to these processes will be the development of a business model covering aspects of outreach, sales, and marketing.
Team strengths
Osprey CREW comprises an international, interdisciplinary team of business majors and civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers who provide a variety of perspectives that strengthen everything from design to marketing.
Team hurdles
While a smaller budget and team might seem like hindrances to some, Osprey CREW believes these are its strength. The tight-knit group will facilitate the critical thinking required for success in the MECC.
Competition objectives
Osprey CREW’s goals are to deliver a design and prototype of an efficient and simple wave energy converter that contributes to the growth of the wave energy industry, as well as to learn from other teams’ ideas.
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.