U-M students win Clean Energy Prize with Enertia start-up

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

Erkan Aktakka needs a new laptop, and is about to get one thanks to the Clean Energy Prize competition.

Aktakka and two other U-M grad students behind the start-up Enertia just won the entrepreneurial contest, and the hefty purse that comes with it, sponsored by the University of Michigan and DTE Energy. One of the first things the team will do with its new $50,000 in prize money is buy Aktakka a new laptop.

"Right now he's using a computer that has the technology capability of a refrigerator," says Adam Carver, who co-founded Enertia with Aktakka and Tzeno Galchev.

Enertia has developed plans for a device that can harness vibrations to generate electricity to power small electronics, such as remote sensors and surgically implanted medical equipment. The small generators provide renewable electrical power while replacing toxic electrochemical batteries.

Aktakka and Galchev, PhD fellows in NSF Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems, have been working on the technology with other U-M students for the last few years. They met Carver, a U-M MBA student, at a mingle and mix event in September sponsored by the university's Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.

The late 20 somethings hit it off and began aggressively pushing to spin-out the technology and commercialize it. They expect to spend the next two years completing the research and development, perfecting the prototype and working out production, distribution and marketing details. Most of the $50,000 will be spent on proving the technology and preparing it for mass production.

"Those will be the two keystone challenges over the next few years," Carver says. "We'd also like to spend a few thousand dollars making contacts in the marketing and manufacturing sectors."

The Clean Energy Prize is in its second year. This year a total of 32 teams from six universities in Michigan made a go at it. Second place ($25,000) went to Advanced Battery Control, which offers a proprietary smart battery management system and third place ($10,000) was awarded to Green Silane, which provides a low-cost, environmentally benign method for on-site production of silane gas (used in semiconductor, flat-screen display and photovoltaic panel production). Fourth place ($7,000) went to ReGenerate, which manufactures and leases modular anaerobic digestors to institutional food service operators, transforming food waste into on-site renewable energy and nutrient-rich fertilizer products. Video of the awards event can be found here.

Twenty three teams competed last year. They are all pursuing the annual $100,000 prize pool of start-up capital. Last year's winner walked away with $65,000. That company, Algal Scientific, is developing technology that uses algae to simultaneously treat wastewater and produce the raw materials for biofuels. The start-up has secured additional funding and has started operations in an Ann Arbor-area lab with eight employees.

Source: Adam Carver, CFO of Enertia and DTE Energy
Writer: Jon Zemke