UW Environmental Innovation Challenge 2011 Awards Announced
After scoring by nearly 100 judges on March 31, 2011, two teams with strong ties to UW Engineering—Voltaic and PotaVida—placed first and second in the UW Environmental Innovation Challenge. Congratulations to these teams and all the finalists!
Grand Prize: Voltaic
Voltaic, based in UW's Department of Mechanical Engineering, took top honors and a $10,000 award sponsored by the UW Center for Commercialization. The company develops electric vehicle drive trains that can be scaled to allow automotive companies to produce electric models of their gasoline vehicles. The company's president is Trevor Crain, a senior in mechanical engineering at UW. Vivek Gowri, the automotive specialist, is also a senior in ME. Kerwin Loukusa, a senior in electrical engineering, is the director of electronics.
Second Prize: PotaVida
PotaVida is a nonprofit business that has developed a reusable, solar-powered indicator for monitoring the solar disinfection of water. UW Engineering connections include team members Charlie Matlack, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering, and Jacqueline Callihan Linnes, who holds a Ph.D. in bioengineering. Last year, these team members and other student colleagues won a $40,000 prize from the Rockefeller Foundation in an international competition, leading to the launch of PotaVida (see the UW Today news story).
See also
- $22,500 awarded to clean technology winners (Foster School of Business)
- Seattle Times story
- Seattle PI story
- Chris B. Leyerle blog entry
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