Congratulations to our 2022 winners
The 2022 AES Energy Innovation Challenge brought together 30 teams with 149 talented graduate students to develop and propose solutions on how the energy industry can decarbonize underserved communities. Our AES judges were impressed with the many innovative and novel solutions, but two winning teams stood out in their presentations and in-depth solutions.
First place
UD Flyers – University of Dayton
Scott Eardley, Sean Kapp and Megan McNelly presented an indoor farming system powered by onsite solar and battery storage to provide locally grown produce and energy resiliency to the neighborhood.
Runner up
AC/DC – Johns Hopkins
Alayna Nieman, Grant Taylor Miller, Jack Prill, Sebastian Gettelman and Travis Jaramillo proposed deploying additional renewable energy to produce green hydrogen for steel furnaces as well as creating a circular economy within the steel market to reduce the energy required for steel production.
Are you up for the challenge?
About the AES Energy Innovation Challenge
The AES Energy Innovation Challenge is a competition that brings together teams of graduate students from diverse backgrounds to create and present solutions to relevant problems the energy industry is facing. We want to challenge aspiring energy professionals to explore new and potentially untapped solutions.
The AES Energy Innovation Challenge is a prize-based competition that provides students with an exciting opportunity to gain the real-world experience, skills, and insights required to help accelerate the responsible energy transition upon graduation — all while networking with leaders from a global Fortune 500 company dedicated to leading the transformation to smarter, greener energy future.
Why did we launch the Challenge?
We believe that universities and college students are at the forefront of tackling the impacts of climate change and will be a leading force in driving the world’s transformation to a renewable energy economy. Make your mark on the future of energy and apply this autumn!
Apply to the AES Energy Innovation Challenge
Students must apply to the AES Energy Innovation Challenge as a team using the same application.
The AES Energy Innovation Challenge application will open in August. Reach out to innovationchallenge@aes.com with questions or for more information.
Join us for an information session to learn more
If you are interesting in learning more about the AES Energy Innovation Challenge and meet potential teammates, please check back in August and September to register for an Info Session.
| Competition framework |
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Team requirements |
|---|
|
|
|
|
Why participate?
Accelerate the responsible energy transition
We are in an unprecedented time, facing monumental challenges in order to transition our society into a clean energy future. The Energy Innovation Challenge allows you to join AES in accelerating the future of energy by gaining invaluable insight into what these problems look like and what it takes to solve them.
Networking
Participating students will be provided several valuable networking opportunities. All participants will be able to select a discipline and speak one-on-one in a coffee chat with an AES person of that business specialty. Finalists will receive the unique opportunity to network with AES senior leaders as a component of the final round of presentations. The first and second place winning teams will receive individual interview conversations for full time and internship opportunities depending on the students’ needs.
Gain invaluable industry experience
Your team will work on a potential solution to a problem facing the energy industry today. Through this exercise, you will conduct research and use different skills you have developed throughout your education to gain real-world energy experience. This competition will show you how to succeed in the industry and make you more attractive to employers.
Incentivized opportunity
First Place prizes: Individual interviews + $10,000 to the team + $1,000 to a charity in the team’s name
Second Place prizes: Individual interviews + $5,000 to the team + $1,000 to a charity in the team’s name
Participant prizes: All participants will receive student energy industry association memberships and opportunities to network with AES professionals
Competition timeline
Previous Winners
The 2021 AES Energy Innovation Challenge brought over 40 talented graduate students together to develop solutions to the problem of replacing the power generation from a retiring coal plant in the US without negatively impacting the community it serves. There were many novel solutions, but two winning teams stood out.
First place
The Power Troupe – Johns Hopkins
Ruta Karpauskaite, Aditi Kumar, Julia Fernandes Fonteles and Caitlin Candee presented a novel approach leveraging gravity storage and recycled wind turbines.
Runner up
Brazos Tacos – University of Virginia
Wade Fritzeen, Curtis Davis and Shravan Sreekumar presented a solution pairing "floatovoltaics" and bio-generation.
Are you going to accelerate the future of energy with us?
Competition FAQs
We recognize entering the energy industry can sometimes be challenging given the lack of collegiate experiential opportunities. This competition will provide students that are interested in the energy sector with a realistic problem-solving opportunity and exposure to the AES brand and people. This challenge is different from other collegiate competitions because we are looking for solutions that consider a variety of implications — including technological, environmental, financial, social, and beyond. That is why it's critical that teams represent a variety of education backgrounds in either their previous undergraduate areas of study or their current graduate programs.
To maximize participation and potential benefits for participating teams, there is a maximum number of teams that will be able to participate. If necessary, teams will be filtered by their responses to the posed application questions.
At AES and across the energy industry, no challenge is solved by a single viewpoint. Every problem requires a holistic approach and people who can come together with their diverse viewpoints and areas of expertise to deliver the greatest impact solutions. The competition mimics this approach to provide students with a realistic industry experience in which our judges will evaluate the teams on their ability to incorporate interdisciplinary areas of focus into their proposed solutions.
Unfortunately, undergraduates cannot participate this year. In the future, we will have an undergraduate opportunity.
Yes, there is a new competition topic every year. The topic is changed to continue to stay relevant with current events and key industry topics and trends.
Your team will be contacted with more information prior to the start of the First Round on September 26, 2022.
Other questions?
If you have any additional questions, please contact us at innovationchallenge@aes.com.
Meet AES
Accelerating the future of energy, together.
Founded in 1981, AES is a global Fortune 500 energy company committed to accelerating the future of energy in every market that we serve. We are motivated by our passion to meet the current and future energy demands of a world that is constantly evolving.
Our vision to accelerate a net-zero future requires innovative thinking and a culture grounded in living our values each day. Driven by the energy of our people and bringing together capabilities in renewable energy technologies, including solar, wind, hydropower and energy storage, we partner with our many stakeholders to deliver customized clean energy solutions to safely and reliable transition our customers and communities to cleaner energy.
Together, we are improving lives by delivering the greener, smarter energy solutions the world needs.
Are you up for the challenge?
Are you going to accelerate the future of energy with us?
