Brown/RISD/Erfurt Team Selected to Compete in 2014 Solar Decathlon Europe

Team Inside Out, composed of students from Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design and University of Applied Sciences of Erfurt (Germany), has been selected to compete in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 competition. The Brown/RISD/Erfurt team is one of only 20 teams from 16 countries selected to participate in the international competition which will be held in Versailles, France, in June-July 2014.

These 20 teams now have 18 months to work on the design, production and implementation of their respective projects, to be assembled and presented in Versailles. The teams will have to meet the challenge of fully designing and constructing an energy independent solar house.

The Solar Decathlon team brings together a diverse group of participants from Brown, RISD and Erfurt. Its evolution goes can be traced to Jonathan Knowles, professor of architecture at RISD, who led the RISD Solar Decathlon team in the 2005 edition of the competition. His positive experience in 2005 inspired him to start building the current team. The University of Applied Sciences of Erfurt was a natural partner for several reasons, including Prof. Knowles’ longstanding collaboration with Prof. Rolf Gruber, Erfurt’s expertise in passive architecture, and Erfurt’s proximity to the 2014 Solar Decathlon competition site in Versailles.

“Brown University offers talented students and strength in science and engineering that will help develop the project’s technical innovations that are an important component of the competition,” said Derek Stein, assistant professor of physics and the faculty liaison for the team.

The Solar Decathlon core team members from Brown include engineering students Matt Breuer ’14, Montana Feiger ’14, Isby Lubin ’16, Beverly Xu ’14, and Gareth Rose ’16 in addition to Howard Carter ’16, Jonah Fay ’12.5, Sage Green ’14, and Haily Tran ’16.

The students have already developed the project’s concept of a “woven” house, whose reconfigurable walls will be made of textiles, and whose various uses will be intertwined with the needs of the community. The team is rethinking what materials can go into energy and cost-efficient housing, as well as what designs will promote efficient interactions between people and their environment.

“We are designing the house to have impacts beyond its walls; users will interact with elements of the house playfully, and we will design positive feedbacks to teach users about sustainability best practices,” said Breuer. “As part of this, we are weaving the systems that are traditionally kept in the background into the foreground - users will be aware of the presence of electrical, heating, and water systems and how their behavior impacts their resource consumption. We hope this will strengthen the relationship that users have with their living space and will promote a responsible and environmentally friendly lifestyle.”

About Solar Decathlon
The Solar Decathlon is an international competition organized every other year by the Department of Energy (DOE) in the United States. Since 2010, a Solar Decathlon has been organized in Europe in the alternating years between the American competitions. The first two European competitions were held in Madrid. The next competition, to be held in June/July 2014, is being organized by France and will take place in Versailles. A competition will also be held in 2013 in the United States and China.

Brown Team Wins Rhode Island Business Plan Competition For Fourth Straight Year

For the fourth consecutive year, a Brown student team has won the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. This year, Overhead.fm, led by Stephen Hebson ’12, an economics and history double concentrator, and Parker Wells ’12, a mechanical engineering concentrator, won the student track of the competition. Their plan is to produce a web app to provide a customizable stream of music for in-store use, licensing music directly from the artists and labels. They received $15,000 in cash and services valued at $24,000 for winning the competition. Winners were announced at the annual RIBX business expo at the Rhode Island Convention Center. In order to be eligible to win, applicants had to agree to establish or maintain operations in Rhode Island.

Previous Brown winners of the competition have included PriWater, now Premama, (2011), Speramus (2010), and Runa (2009). Premama (http://drinkpremama.com/) produces a prenatal beverage supplement to help reduce birth defects. Speramus is (www.speramus.com) an online fundraising platform that matches donors with individual support opportunities. Runa (www.runa.org) produces energy drinks made from the leaves of an Amazonian tree, and has been featured in the New York Times and raised over $1 million from investors and has increased distribution into Whole Foods.

Two other Brown teams, both with connections to the School of Engineering, were also named finalists at the 2012 competition. Finalists receive $5,000 in cash and services valued at between $9,000 and $11,500.

One of the finalists, JCD Wind, was from Steve Petteruti’s Entrepreneurship I class and Entrepreneurship II classes, Engineering 1930G and Engineering 1930H. JCD Wind, included James McGinn ’12, a biomedical engineering concentrator, and Carli Wiesenfeld ’12, a commerce, organizations, and entrepreneurship (COE) concentrator. The company aims to make seamless, high strength lightweight carbon fiber turbine blades. McGinn is also a member of the men’s rugby team, and Wiesenfeld is a member of the women’s gymnastics team.

The other finalist was a group of four graduate students in the Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME) master’s degree program. Solar4Cents included PRIME students Sean Pennino, Bhavuk Nagpal, Xiaotong 'Peter' Shan, and Meng 'Milo' Zhang. Solar4Cents is a manufacturing company that aims to produce low-cost, thin-film copper, zinc, tin, and sulfur solar cells for solar panel manufacturers.

Established in 2000, the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition has awarded more than $1 million in prizes since its inception.

For the official RI Business plan release on the competition, please go to:
http://www.ri-bizplan.com/tabid/259/Default.aspx

Brown Students Perform Well at Elevator Pitch Contest

Professor Eric Suuberg reports that students from his ENGN 1930G Entrepreneurship course performed well in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition’s Elevator Pitch Contest this week. The event took place at the new R.I. Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and is considered a preview to the 2011 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.

The winner, Theresa Raimondo '11, a chemical engineering concentrator, pitched an idea for a container that can quickly heat and cool beverages and won $300. The winning idea, called HnC (hot and cold), grew out of Suuberg's entrepreneurship class in which Raimondo and six other undergraduates have been working on a way to improve the taste of food eaten by astronauts, who don’t have access to refrigeration in space. Using compact thermoelectric technology, the beverage container they’re designing will heat or cool any drink between 50 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit within 90 seconds. The team is proposing to commercialize the product, which, it says, has the potential to redefine the beverage market. Raimondo made her 90-second pitch to a panel of judges and more than 200 audience members, and finished first in a field of 48 aspiring entrepreneurs.

In addition, students and alumni from the Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME) were presenting, and Joseph Ramos ScM'10 finished second. Ramos, of Axena Technologies in Providence, won $200 for his idea for a start-up company to combat health-care associated infections. Axena Technologies was founded by four graduates of Brown University's PRIME master's degree program. The biomedical engineering company utilizes a novel antibacterial technology to coat medical devices in order to mitigate healthcare-associated infections.

Dan Aziz '05, of PriWater in Providence, received $200 for his pitch for a drink to help pregnant women decrease the chance of certain birth defects.

Each of these teams is expected to do well in the actual business plan competition next semester.

RI Business Plan Competition Press Release:
http://www.ri-bizplan.com/News/Dec2010ElevatorPitchResults/tabid/231/Default.aspx

Providence Business New online edition that described the outcome of the competition: See http://www.pbn.com/Revolutionary-beverage-container-garners-top-prize-at-elevator-pitch-competition,54251

Extreme Gingerbread Competition a Success

The Brown University Society for Women Engineers in collaboration with the University's Engineers Without Borders student organization held its fourth annual "Extreme Gingerbread House Competition" on Friday, December 3. Twenty-one teams of three to five students and professors participated, and the event raised more than $125 for Engineers without Borders. This year, Engineers Without Borders is focusing on helping a Haitian orphanage that was damaged during the earthquake in January, 2010. The designs ranged from the traditional to the modern, and included circular houses, and a replica of Frank Lloyld Wright’s Fallingwater.


This year, the teams were challenged to build earthquake resistant gingerbread houses out of graham crackers, icing, candy canes, pretzels, gummy bears and other supplied materials in a one-hour time period. Houses were required to be hollow with a maximum wall thickness of one inch, and had to exceed 6” x 6” x6”. The houses were judged both for aesthetics, and amount of time without breaking on a shake table.

Team eight, the bleeding gumdrops (Kelly Schryver ’11, Ben Howard ’11, Katie Delaney ’11, Adam Maynard ’11) won the competition with a score of 66.67 (16.67 appearance score and 50 structure score), while team 21 (Nick Ragosta ‘12, Ben Freudberg ‘12, Nattie Cooper ‘12, Aris Nakos ‘12) was close behind with a total score of 66.33 (16.33 for appearance plus 50 for structure). Team 16, known as team Barus & Holly (Kristie Chin ’11, Camile Rodriguez ’11, Katrina Wilson ’11, Kelsi Hirai ’11--with advising help from Professor Daniels), finished in third with a score of 65.67 (15.67 for appearance and 50 for structure). In all, seven of the 21 teams survived the maximum time of one minute.

Fourth Annual SWE Extreme Gingerbread House Competition

The Brown University Society for Women Engineers in collaboration with the University's Engineers Without Borders student organization will be sponsoring its fourth annual "Extreme Gingerbread House Competition" on Friday, December 3, from 4:30 - 6:30 in the lobby of the Barus and Holley building on 184 Hope Street.

Event Description:
Twenty-two teams of 3-5 students and professors will be allowed to pre-register for the competition. Any additional teams that express interest will be placed on a waitlist in the event that a team does not arrive. If the team has not arrived within five minutes of the beginning of the event, their spot will be given to a team on the waitlist or a team that has shown up at the event without registering.

Each team will be supplied with two boxes of graham crackers, two Ziploc bags of royal icing, and a tray on which to construct their house. Additionally, all teams will be provided with an empty sandwich size Ziploc bag for taking the communal supplies. Foods such as candy canes, m&ms, teddy grahams, shredded coconut, etc., will be kept on a central table. At the start of the one hour time slot of building, one member of each team will be allowed to take the empty Ziploc bag to the communal table and fill the bag with whatever supplies they feel are most valuable for their team’s house. All food items will be provided by SWE at the event; teams are NOT allowed to bring any of their own food.

The teams will have one hour to construct their houses out of the provided food. Houses should be designed to follow the criteria listed below:
- The house must fit on the provided tray.
- House dimensions must exceed 6”x6”x6”.
- The house must be hollow.
- The maximum wall thickness is 1”.
- The house should be designed to withstand earthquakes.

Teams are allowed to bring any tools that they think will be helpful such as knives, drills, etc. Teams are responsible for bringing the necessary power connections/extension cords. If you plan on using tools, please ensure you know how to use them safely and plan on bring the necessary personal protective equipment, such as safety glasses. No chemicals can be used during the manufacturing of the house; the house and all its contents must remain edible at all times.

After exactly one hour, the teams will be forced to stop construction on their houses. The houses will initially be judged before a panel of three faculty judges (TBD) on (1) Attractiveness of the House [1-10 points] (2) Novel use of Building Materials [1-5 points] (3) Use of Available Space (ie decorations other than the house) [1-5 points]. Additionally, judges will have the option to select one “wildcard” house after viewing all the completed houses. Judges will award a bonus of three points to the house if they feel that one house was exceptional in a way that was not represented in the other scores; this is optional and at the judges discretion. The sum of these components will be used as the team’s aesthetic score.

The second portion of judging will be on the ability of the house to withstand a simulated earthquake. The tray will be attached to a shake table and cycled through a regimen moving from a low frequency to a high frequency. Time will start when the shake table is turned on, and will be stopped when part of the house falls off the main structure; this includes decorations attached to the house, but not “environmental decorations” that are simply on the tray.

After all the houses have been tested, the maximum amount of time on the shake table to make a gingerbread house break will be used to calculate the scores.

Total group scores will be calculated by combining the aesthetic score (out of 25 points) and the stability score (out of 50 points) for a total score out of 75 points. The team with the most points will be considered the winner. The team with the second highest number of points will be given second place and so forth. The top three teams will be awarded a prize.

EWB Collaboration
This year Engineers Without Borders is focusing on helping a Haitian orphanage that was damaged during the earthquake in January, 2010. There are three main projects that the team hopes to implement in Haiti during trips over winter, spring and summer breaks. The first of these projects is designing a more fuel efficient smoke-less stove to reduce wood use at the orphanage and also to protect the children and staff from upper respiratory disease. Secondly, Brown EWB is helping to install a sanitation system to prevent the spread of disease. Thirdly, they are planning on building a structure that can serve both as a school and as housing for the orphans, who are currently living in tents.

When registering, each team will be asked to pay a registration fee of $6.00 to enter the event. Additionally, they will be supplied with an information packet about the current situation in Haiti and how Brown EWB is helping and what everyone can do to help. Teams are of course able to donate more money to the organization if they feel compelled, but it will have no influence on their supplies etc.

At the event, EWB will also have a table with information on the current situation in Haiti, what their project entails and what they need to implement these designs. This will also be an area where other visitors will be able to learn more about the program and donate if they wish.

All proceeds from the event will go to Brown University Engineers Without Borders.

Present and Past: Rhode Island Business Plan Competition winners from Brown

Brown students enrolled in Entrepreneurship & New Ventures ENGN1930x course consistently do well in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. This year Speramus, which developed its business plan in the course last semester, won the student track. The company is creating an online fundraising platform that uses a proprietary ranking system to match donors with individual support opportunities. In addition, Bakodo which developed its business plan in the course last year was runner up in the entrepreneur track. The company is focused on developing a highly-targeted, contextual barcode ad-serving network that aims to optimize return on investment for advertisers. For more information on this year's winners, visit here.

Last year's winner, Runa, who also developed their business plan in the Entrepreneurship and New Ventures course continues to make excellent progress. They have successfully raised funds from angel investors, successfully built out their vertically integrated supply chain in Ecuador, and begun selling their initial tea products in both loose leaf pouches and single serve bags. If you are interested in trying Runa, feel free to buy a cup at Blue State in Providence which now proudly serves it! You can read more at www.drinkruna.com

In addition the runner-up from last year, Eulie has also grown from the intial business plan they developed in the Entrepreneurship and New Ventures course. Both founders raised capital to work full-time on Eulie, developed and successfully tested a novel patent-pending fabric combination that is leak proof, and designed products that will be used to approach retail buyers later this year. You can read more at www.eulieintimates.com

RI Elevator Pitch Competition

Professor Eric Suuberg reports that students from his ENGN 1930G Entrepreneurship course performed well in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition’s Elevator Pitch Contest this week. The event took place at the new R.I. Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and is considered a preview to the 2010 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.

The winner, Adam Leonard, a student in Suuberg's ENGN 1930G course is mentored by Dr. Jason Hack of the Brown Medical School in the development of a device to treat pediatric needle pain. In addition, there were three students presenting from the Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship, and two students, Matt Doherty and Michael Kreitzer, were in the group of winners. Each of these teams is expected to do well in the actual business plan competition next semester.

More details are available here.

Providence Business New online edition that also described the outcome of the competition: See http://www.pbn.com/stories/46634.html

Brown FSAE places 25th

Brown FSAE Team traveled to Detriot, Michigan to compete against nearly 100 teams from around the world. Our team placed 25th this year and notably had the only female driver in the endurance competition. The team placed 16th on fuel efficiency. They are clearly aware of energy and resource consumption.

Brown's team has finished the endurance portion 12 out of the past 13 years, which is a portion of the race that less than 30% of teams complete. They should be applauded for their reliable car.

Here are the results from the FSAE website:
http://www.sae.org/images/cds/selfservice/242668107_FSAE_MI_2009_result.pdf

Biosensor to Measure Vitamin D Levels

A team from Professor Palmore's lab consisting of two grad students (Steve Rhieu and Vince Siu) and one undergraduate (Daniel Ludwig, '09) is in the Finalist round of the BMEIdea 2009 competition on June 9th – June 11th, in New York City, New York. This work was made possible by an OVPR seed grant and has a preliminary patent application submitted.

Here is the brief project summary:

We propose a new methodology to measure vitamin D levels in serum using electrochemical detection. Vitamin D is a prohormone that is hydroxylated in the liver to become 25(OH)D, which is further hydroxylated in the kidney by the enzyme CYP27B1 to become the biologically active form. The electrochemical approach is based on the hypothesis that the hydroxylation of 25(OH)D can be measured via the catalytic reaction of CYP27B1 immobilized on an electrode. The reaction requires a supply of electrons, generating a detectable current that is proportional to the concentration of 25(OH)D. Similar to a commercial glucose meter, our proposed vitamin D biosensor will use a disposable testing strip that is inserted in the portable device along with a sub-microliter sample. The sample is analyzed and the result is displayed both qualitatively and quantitatively on a liquid crystal display. Specific recognition of 25(OH)D by a CYP27B1-based electrode system eliminates the need for extensive extraction and/or purification of the sample allowing for inexpensive, accurate, and rapid measurements.