UT Tyler engineering students gathering information at workshop.

Two teams of mechanical engineering students at The University of Texas at Tyler won the collegiate track concept phase of the U.S. Department of Energy American-Made Community Energy Innovation Prize.

The three-phase $7.49 million Community Energy Innovation Prize will continue to encourage the transition to a just and equitable clean energy economy by offering three prize tracks: the Clean Energy Ecosystem Track, the Manufacturing Ecosystem Track, and the Collegiate Track. Each track has distinct goals and submission requirements over three phases: concept, progress, and impact.

According to the American-Made Challenges website, the prize aims to bolster grassroots community organizations, accelerate innovation in the manufacturing sector, and inspire and mentor collegiate students.

“The Collegiate Track of the Community Energy Innovation Prize gives next-generation climate leaders the support they need to put their ideas to accelerate an equitable clean energy transition into action,” said Jeff Marootian, DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, in a press release. “The prize also forges critically important connections between academic institutions and local community organizations. It’s a win-win in so many ways.”

Each team was awarded $15,000 as part of the first track. The prize was used to implement their planned community activities and compete with three other U.S.-based collegiate teams for $20,000 in the competition’s progress phase.

UT Tyler’s Greener CASA is working to create an academia-community partnership to bring free energy audits to underserved communities to promote energy efficiency.

“The idea is to help the disadvantaged community and low-income people to reduce their electricity utility bills,” said Dr. Nelson Fumo, associate professor of UT Tyler’s mechanical engineering department. “What we are doing with this program is offering them… advice on understanding the electricity bill and what kind of provider they need to choose.”

According to Fumo, with Texas being a deregulated market, the price of electricity from one company to another, as well as what plan or contract, can be anywhere from seven cents to up to 21 cents per kilowatt hour.

“Those that are in the high range are paying more than what they could pay,” he said. “So we are helping them to decide which company they should contract.”

They are also conducting energy outreach, which allows them to go to houses to do tests, assess the energy consumption and recommend what the people can do to reduce the energy consumption.

“What we are doing is applying the knowledge on how the energy used in the houses and trying to identify where is not being used properly or the systems that are not running like they should be,” Fumo said. “The energy outlet reflects mainly on losses through the envelope of the house, the walls and roof.”

They use tools like a thermal camera to detect the losses of energy, by seeing the difference in temperature. Once they’re able to distinguish the issue, they take action by fixing insulation in problematic areas. Then they leave the homeowners a kit that includes LED bulbs, a caulking tool to modify cracks in window frames, a can of foaming insulation to fill in gaps in walls and materials for any issues with ceilings.

“We make checklists for the house, give information for the homeowners to fill out about their house,” said junior Rafael Reyes. “We try to seal their house, solve what we can and help them find providers that are better for them so they don’t spend as much money as they should.”

UT Tyler also works with Monarca Initiative as their community partner, which helps the team to reach people interested in participating in the energy audits.

“I believe our goal is to set an example and also to learn at the same time,” said junior Diego Diaz. “We can achieve both of those objectives by partaking in this program. I think our job is to set that precedent, to be the standard.”

UT Tyler Houston Engineering Center (HEC) is team GreenSynergy, and they are working to integrate clean energy into education, utilizing solar panels, fuels cells and other technologies to foster learning and sustainability.

“I think this definitely shows us our ability and our capability as a university that shows the kind of work we’re doing and how that’s benefiting the community and society,” said Mohammad Biswas, associate professor of UT Tyler HEC mechanical engineering department.

HEC, which has a group of ten engineering students, is working on developing the system in making it remotely accessible or at least make it accessible so the information can be seen and be able to interact with the system if possible as well as developing a focus group.

“And then there’s another team that’s working on surveys, getting information from the community or from students mainly to see what they know about the energy and how they can address it through the system or through this educational tool,” Biswas said. “The students are going to set up another system as well with a focus on adding some sort of tracking. We also have a couple of students helping with documentation and videos and such.”

HEC senior Peter de Vries is leading one of the teams that is doing the remote access portion of their project.

“It’s definitely stretching our understanding of mechanical engineering,” he said. “It’s really showing us that mechanical engineers are really jacks of all trades, and whatever you put your mind and heart into you can see it happen. We have the support of the school behind us and if we didn’t have that, I don’t think we’d be able to do this, so we’re really grateful for that.”

HEC works with Houston Community College as their community partner.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity,” said Biswas. “And the fact that we get to make an impact using this project where we’re not only applying engineering concepts and applying them, but also that we actually have an impact on our local community.”

According to both teams, the most challenging part of their projects is finding the time and it usually means giving up their Saturday mornings.

“It’s a challenge but it’s worth it,” Diaz said.

These teams reported on their progress this month and will compete to receive the additional $20,000 and mentorship services as a part of the progress phase. The competition will then conclude with the impact phase in which the advancing teams will compete for a share of the $100,000 grand prize.

“It’s pretty incredible to be a part of something like this,” de Vries said. “It really feels like you’re making an impact. It’s an amazing opportunity and we’re really grateful to be able to participate.”

The Community Energy Innovation Prize, part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, is designed to build trust, strengthen relationships and partnerships, and support underserved communities in their clean energy transitions.

For more information, visit energy.gov/eere/funding/eere-prizes-and-competitions.