Engineers market invention

Creating a device that maximizes turbine wind efficiency was easy for electrical engineering majors Jonathan Baker and Christopher Hamilton.

But making the invention market-worthy will not be so easy breezy.

Baker and Hamilton enjoyed success in July after winning first place in the 2009 International Future Energy Challenge in Australia. Universities from around the world came to Australia to compete against groups who created their own original energy projects.

Baker and Hamilton were the first team from the Florida Power Electronics Center at UCF ever to win the challenge.

In layman's terms, the team invented a converter that makes wind turbines more efficient.

A wind turbine is an alternative energy machine that converts kinetic energy into mechanical energy.

"Officially, the converter is called a three-phase AC/DC converter," Baker said. "Unofficially, we called it The Pegador."

Baker and Hamilton, along with electrical engineering majors Anthony Wertz and Mike Ramsey spent more than a year building a low-cost wind turbine energy maximizer.

Graduate advisers Gustavo Gamboa and John Elmes supervised them.

"There is an optimum rotational speed where the wind turbine can extract the maximum amount of power," Gamboa said. "Our converter efficiently transfers the maximum power to the battery by finding this optimum rotational speed of the turbine at a low cost."

Wertz and Ramsey worked on the project but had to leave the team in the middle of the competition.

Issa Batarseh, professor and director of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, also oversaw the project.

Batarseh said the students developed the entire strategy.

The team was sponsored by Advanced Power Electronics Corporation, Progress Energy, the National Science Foundation and Florida Power Electronics Center. Now that they have earned the prestige of first place, ApECOR is helping the group market the device to make it more saleable and even more effectual.

Gamboa said the team must make the converter better able to track the speed of the turbine in order to determine the maximum amount of power that it can produce. The main goal is to allow the turbine to cost less than $30 per unit and find ways to use solar energy in conjunction with the turbine.     

"Although our converter received the first place award, there is still room for improvement where efficiency can be further increased," Gamboa said. "The team at UCF's Florida Power and Electronics Center is planning to work further with ApECOR to bring the technology to the marketplace."      

ApECOR has been helping the team with funding and research since day one.
A big part of the success of this converter is due to their support and advice, Gamboa said.

"We also received significant sponsorship from Progress Energy, which funded a large portion of the hardware costs. Since the completion of our prototypes, we've noticed a big potential in the current market," Gamboa said. "We would have still tried to market the product, whether or not we won the competition. However, winning this award motivates us even more due to the great potential of the product."     

Being under a tight schedule has presented some challenges to the team's attempts since they are now working under different conditions. Aside from having to troubleshoot more effectively and rapidly under deadlines, the team members now have a lot more on their plates since the competition ended.

"One big challenge is starting other projects and grad school," Baker said.

It is uncertain when the invention will reach the sales market.

Winning the competition and having the opportunity to market this invention sheds positive light on UCF, Baker said.

 "It is a great international award that properly represents UCF as one of the leading universities in the research of renewable energy," Baker said. "We again would like to recognize Progress Energy and ApECOR for sponsoring the project."       

The team recently picked up their grand prize in San Jose, Calif. A dinner banquet was held in their honor and they received a plaque along with a $10,000 check made out to UCF. 

Participating in this kind of undergraduate research has opened many doors for Baker and Hamilton as they are now more prepared to enter the workforce.

"Going from book knowledge to tangibility experience has really accelerated my future career," Baker said. "I've graduated with not only an honors degree, but an actual invention and experience."     

Batarseh said he could not be more proud of his students.

"One of our goals in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is to strongly encourage faculty to engage undergraduates in research and development activities," Batarseh said. "Such competition brings the best in our students.

"Today's engineering students want to make difference in the world ... they want to make the world a better place through technological innovations that save lives and help clear the environment."      

Baker and Hamilton were undergrads at the time of the competition but are now working on their master's degrees at UCF.