Another battle won

Starting from an open call on the university’s news blog in April, three international students of the TU Delft, Ankit Agarwal from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Bedashrita Chattoraj from the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management and Gautham Ram from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Sciences, became part of Team ROSEN Europe. They worked along with their Dutch counterpart Koen Hermans and Italian TU Eindhoven student Davide Garufi to come up with a “Base Load Concept for Offshore Wind Parks”. 

The NRG Battle series of competitions are held three times a year in the Netherlands, where talent within the field on energy is fostered through time intensive case studies, three to five minute pitches and direct jury feedback from experts in the industry. The challenges come from top companies like E.ON, Siemens and in the case of the winning team this year, Rosen Europe. 

The “Base Load Concept” challenge was not a conventional or straightforward task. It dealt with finding a new concept for energy storage and subsequent transport and distribution. To deal with these ever-pressing problems in realizing a renewable energy future, the team’s basis for proposal was the use of elemental silicon as an energy carrier. To the layman this means one thing – a shift from our current, controversial carbon-based economy. Eventually there could be the ability to “convert a desert into gold” as expressed by a jury member at the team’s final evaluation.

Team ROSEN Europe’s solution embodied everything the jury looked for during the competition: novelty, utility and originality. Of the three rounds of competition, the team was the overall winner of round 2 and came out on top of the final round of the European NRG Battle 2013. The victory gives the team much acclaim within the energy sector in Europe and worldwide, but also includes a much-coveted prize. Each team member received a ticket for a trip around the world, with three destinations of their choice.

As for the student themselves, they are elated about their victory. Aside from the excitement from their families and friends back home, some of them stop to reflect on what this win means in the greater scheme of things. “When others, especially young minds back in my country are getting to know about this competition and our experiences, it will enlighten many more to take part in such competitions,” says Chattoraj.