CORVALLIS – A group of Oregon State University students placed second out of 17 teams representing five countries in the Department of Energy’s 2022 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition.

The purpose of the competition is to produce new ideas for capturing the power of the ocean in pursuit of global climate goals, according to the DOE.

The third annual edition of the contest required each interdisciplinary team of graduate and undergraduate students to develop a wave energy converter and create a business plan supported by market research.

Representing OSU in the contest were a total of 22 students from the colleges of Engineering, Business and Liberal Arts.

Oregon State’s team developed a desalination system, powered by wave and solar energy, for providing drinking water in post-disaster scenarios in remote locations. Each team in the competition was required to submit a poster and a written report detailing its work.

The Oregon State team’s project included community outreach in the form of marine energy lessons for seventh- and eighth-graders in Wilsonville. OSU students delivered a presentation on renewable energy and opportunities for wave energy, and the middle school students were given materials to build their own small wave energy converters.