€10,000 from Intel for the Winner of University Notebook Challenge

Intel launched in April, in the spirit of innovation toward energy-efficient technology, a challenge to European universities to design a device that would be capable of powering laptops by using sustainable and renewable energy sources. After seven months of creative work from the participants, the winners of the Intel University Competition On Renewable Energy (CORE) were rewarded yesterday.
The winners were given €10,000 as funding to support scientific research.

The three members jury had to judge entries from universities in Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain. The three members, Nir Tessler, professor at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Eszter Morvay, IT analyst, and Ofri Wechsler, Intel employee, judged each entry according to several criteria, as ecological value, ingenuity of design or commercial viability.

The winner of the competition was the Spanish team, which presented a solution based on a pedal machine powered by human motion. The energy produced by the cycling action is turned into electricity by a power electronics converter and this way can power the laptop. The jury considered that this solution dealt with all aspects of the challenge, from ease of implementation to innovative quality of its components and also that it allows for a realistic usage model. The device is user-friendly allowing the user to adopt a flexible rhythm and take any breaks necessary. The power electronic converter is specifically designed to minimize charging time and to keep the energy flow at a constant level.

The Polytechnic of Milan from Italy and Delft's University of Technology from Netherlands, the runners-up will be recognized too for the merits of their designs. The Italian team designed a system that uses hydrogen fuel to power a laptop. This solution is noteworthy for its duration and also for being environmentally clean. Although it can not be found on Earth in its elemental form, hydrogen can be obtained through electrolysis from water. The Netherlands team presented a project consisting mainly of a rocking motion pedal mechanism. Both runners-up received a top of the line laptop.