MOMENTUM • VIRGINIA TECH MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 27
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Duncan Lambert tests simulations for ocean energy harvesting .
A team of students from Virginia Tech , in collaboration with UCLA , took third place among 16 teams in a national competition aimed at creating new technologies for large-scale renewable energy .
The Marine Energy Collegiate Competition , a competition organized by the U . S . Department of Energy , was created for university students to play a role in the advancement of marine energy . This is the third stage of the competition , where students are challenged to put their design to work in a real-world environment . Previous stages required students to present and refine a design .
The Virginia Tech team designed and built a
self-powered ocean observation platform which harvests kinematic energy from ocean waves , converting the motion to usable electricity . Electricity is also stored in a battery within the mechanism , using the same source of wave energy to power sensors used by the machine .
Undergraduate team members are Duncan Lambert , Corbin Lenderink , and Brian Fierstein , all of whom recently completed their bachelor ’ s degree in mechanical engineering . They are joined by master ’ s student Shuo Chen and postdoctorate advisors Xiaofan Li and Qiaofeng Li .
The competition is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on behalf of the Water Power Technologies Office .
Amanda Collins , financial services coordinator for the department of mechanical engineering , is the recipient of the 2021 administrative award from the Virginia Tech College Associate for Staff in Engineering . The award was announced virtually on March 18 , 2021 .
Collins started her career at Virginia Tech in November 2010 , and has always worked in the mechanical engineering department . She assumed her current role in 2012 .