A team of students from Cranfield University, calling themselves the Wave Whisperers, has won the inaugural Bombora Wave Power Challenge Cup, following a weekend of both technical and sporting challenges.
The team of four from Cranfield – Jackson Makanga, Ibifubara Tamunoibi Green, Francisco Aura-Camarena, are studying Advanced Mechanical Engineering and Maryamsadat Mohaddes the Renewable Energy MSc.
Jackson said, of the win: “It was an epic event providing a great opportunity to showcase our innovative skills with real-life engineering challenges in regards to the design, installation and commissioning of a new wave power extractor device, the mWave.”
They scooped the trophy, which is sponsored by Welsh Government, by beating other competitors from two Pembrokeshire Colleges and the engineering departments from Bath, Cardiff, Plymouth, Southampton and Swansea Universities who all travelled to Pembroke Dock to take part.
Professor Chris Sansom, Cranfield’s Head of Renewable Energy Systems Centre, said: “We’re delighted that students from our Renewable Energy Course MSc have won first prize at the inaugural Bombora Technical Challenge Cup this weekend. Harvesting wave power forms an integral part of the renewable energy technologies that the students study. Working with business to provide a sustainable, secure and affordable energy supply is fundamentally important to all our lives.”
Chris Williams, Bombora’s Commercial Manager, said: “As well as having fun on the water, ultimately we are looking to inspire the next generation of marine engineers, celebrate the beautiful landscape in which we are fortunate enough to be based and encourage positive engagement and relationships with industry, academic institutions and of course our local community.”
Bombora Wave Power is an award-winning ocean energy company committed to providing clean, renewable electricity. Bombora’s globally patented mWave can produce environmentally-friendly, consistent and cost-competitive commercial scale electricity in coastal regions across the world.
Notes for editors
Bombora Wave Power
Founded in 2012, Bombora is an award-winning ocean energy company from Australia with operational headquarters in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Our innovative mWave converter is intended to deliver environmentally friendly, large scale energy for national electricity grids. Bombora wave farms are designed for deployment in coastal locations throughout the world.
Bombora strives to create renewable energy solutions with a positive impact on our environment and our community. www.Bomborawave.com
About Cranfield University
Cranfield University is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management.
Energy and Power at Cranfield
Cranfield has been a leader in energy and power for 20 years. Our expertise includes low carbon energy supply, power generation, advanced fossil fuel technologies and transport systems. Our teaching and research covers offshore renewables, oil and gas engineering, the production and clean utilisation of fossil fuels, combustion and power generation through to bioenergy and the utilisation of wastes as fuel.
We have long-standing strategic partnerships with Alstom Power, BP, Centrica, Chevron, Doosan Babcock, Dong Energy, Petrofac, Rolls-Royce, Shell, Siemens and many others.
Our world-class facilities include the Structural Integrity Laboratory, which has a wide range of equipment to study the mechanical behaviour of components and material samples up to 250,000 tonnes and has machines unique to any university in Europe, and the Ocean Systems Test Laboratory, designed for model testing at the early stage of marine renewable projects.
