First of its kind EV Hackathon as prelude to the launching of EMPI Energy Lab

 

EMPI – the premier Business School since 1995 and EnergyLab, Australia- the largest energy focused incubator set up by Origin – the Australian energy major, Government of NSW Australia and University of Technology Sydney along with IncubateIND organized a 30 hour continuous Night & Day hackathon at EMPI Campus on Business Model Challenges of Electrical Vehicles, Charging Infrastructure & New Mobility solutions. Besides Mentoring by top industry operating managers, a unique feature was International Mentoring by Energy Lab and its affiliate start-ups.

Out of over 300 registration and 50 team entries, 25 teams comprising about 100 participants from leading institutions including IITs, DTU, National Power Institute and Start-ups like Mody Motors were selected to participate in the Hackathon.

The industry majors supporting the event included Mahindra Electric, the pioneer electric car manufacturer in India who also displayed their new e2o model, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd., ABB India Ltd. and icreate. California Clean Energy Fund, Everty, Charge Point technologies, New Energy Nexus were the international partners.

While the country has access to the technology from domestic and international sources for ushering in the EV revolution – to cure our addiction to oil, sustain the environment and maintain standard of living & growth, what is urgently needed is large body innovative start-ups to put that technology in the right place along with viable business models. With this backdrop the Hackathon succeeded to come up with powerful solutions for the Electric Vehicle eco-system.

The Mentors & Jury included Dr. Piers Grove, MD, Energy Lab; Ms Carola Jonas, CEO & Co-Founder, Everty Australia; Mr. Anil Varshney, Sr. VP, Reliance Grp;  Mr. Jitendra Nalwaya, VP, BSES-Yamuna Power Ltd., Dr. Meenu Mishra, Advisor Regulatory Services, BSES-Yamuna Power Ltd., Mr. Mukul Mathur, DGM-Mahindra Electric; Mr. Divya Mittal, Associate Sales Director- ABB India Ltd. and Mr. Dinesh Kumar Kori, Director, Charge Point Technologies.

Mr. Pankaj Saran, Director, Andhra Pradesh Aerospace & Defense Electronics Park and VP (Strategic Initiatives), EMPI Group welcomed the participants and exhorted them to come up with innovative solutions now that they were breathing the air of an institution which believes in “Innovating the Future”.

Seven teams were declared winners awarded cash prizes and grants by the companies which included Too Fast To Be Electrified, 24 Hours & Odyssey awarded by Mahindra, Energreen Chargers by ABB, Guardian and Robogyan by BSES Yamuna Power and Electrified Electrons by ChargePoint.  Two school students from Kalka Public School were heartily applauded for their active participation.

Various innovative ideas generated from the event included electronic meter for e-rickshaw for prevention of power theft, electric car charging app, IoT enable socket, ChargePod etc.

Dr. Piers Grove and Mr. Vinod Midha, former Exec. Director, BHEL and Director of EMPI’s Centre for Renewables, Smart Energy and Electric Mobility spoke about the specific pioneering vision of an Indo Australia joint initiative, a first in India.

Mr. Gurnam Saran, former Director, BHEL & President, EMPI Group of Institutions, shared his experiences of tryst with Innovation throughout his long innings and advised the teams to further work on their proposed solutions.

EMPI EnergyLab and the Industry Partners have decided to Mentor and encourage the winning teams to take their ideas forward to the Proof of Concept level and beyond.