KIVI Engineering Student Team Award 2024

Team Solid - Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)

Number of members: 23
Active since: 2016

There is still no simple solution for storing and transporting hydrogen. Team SOLID found the key in iron balls. Using their own test rig, the Steam Iron Reactor One, the students have now tested the principle. The energy of hydrogen is stored via a reaction with iron oxide, creating iron and water. In the process, the iron acts as a storage medium that can be easily transported. If the iron is then brought into contact with steam, hydrogen and iron oxide remain. This creates a cycle in which iron acts as a 'water dust battery', storing not the hydrogen but the iron.

Team SublimeStone - Maastricht University

Number of members: 14
Active since: 2023

What do the pyramid of Giza, the Parthenon in Athens and the ramparts of Maastricht have in common? The building material: like many monumental structures, they are made of limestone. Downside: they suffer badly from the effects of climate change. Known repair methods are costly, unsustainable and also leave their mark. Team SublimeStone developed an alternative in which two bacteria play the main role: one produces the mineral calcite and the second a DNA strand. Via DNA-origami, the calcite can be shaped as desired - and utilised to repair cracked limestone.

Team Afterlife - Wageningen UR

Number of members: 6
Active since: 2022

The world faces an urgent challenge. Demand for food, especially proteins, is growing rapidly, but the environmental impact of production methods needs to be significantly reduced. Animal protein production is resource-intensive, inefficient and unsustainable; while plant-based alternatives are better from a sustainability point of view, space and water consumption remain enormous. With fungal fermentation, team Afterlife is therefore developing mycoproteins. The magic takes place in a bioreactor, reducing land and water requirements. All in pursuit of a better future.