The San Diego Regional Technology Acceleration Program recently has chosen graduate students from the San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego pursuing three dissimilar clean energy technologies for a von Liebig Center Fellowship.
A panel consisting of experts from the investment segment, private sector and the city of San Diego reviewed the projects to choose the three winning projects from a total of 11 finalists. The winning projects were chosen on criteria such as the stage of development, market potential, and possible impact on saving fossil fuel and the technical feasibility of the project.
During the next 12 months the chosen von Liebig Fellows will receive a grant of $45,000 to study, develop, perform market research and conclude the commercial viability of their project technologies. The Fellows will get business instructions from the business advisors and von Liebig Center’s technology advisors. They will also be teamed up with MBA Fellows from San Diego State University or the Rady School of Management who will impart training on business model formulation to them while understanding the technology and development involved by working along with the von Liebig Fellows.
The chosen projects include mercury free light bulbs with capability to substitute the presently used compact fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, manufacture of three-dimensional organic solar cells at a cheaper cost than the normal solar cells and an improved Thermography algorithm to observe possible imperfections in the wind turbine blades by utilizing a easy to use handheld equipment.
The San Diego Regional Technology Acceleration Program is conceived to assist in marketing exclusive clean energy technologies developed in the universities and research institutes located within the San Diego region. The program conducted by the von Liebig Center in collaboration with San Diego State University and UC San Diego Rady School of Management received assistance from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other partners namely CleanTECH San Diego and CONNECT.
The program performs along with researchers in introducing a range of clean energy technologies and usages in segments such as biomass and biofuels, tidal and wave power, hydropower, energy storage, energy analysis software, tools and models, energy efficiency in building construction, advanced materials, hydrogen and fuel cell technology, power transmission and distribution, wind energy, solar thermal energy and solar photovoltaic energy.
Source: http://www.sdsu.edu/