Marijn van Rooij winner Prins Friso Ingenieursprijs 2022
Marijn van Rooij, co-founder and technical director of Ocean Grazer, has been voted Engineer of the Year 2022 by the expert jury. His company developed a technology to store energy on the seabed. The audience award went to Nikéh Booister, consultant Water Safety and Climate Adaptation at Sweco, and the student award to the team MSP Maastricht.
Engineer of the Year 2022
Ir. Marijn van Rooij
The announcement by the Royal Institute of Engineers (KIVI) took place online on 16 March 2022 in the virtual presence of Princess Beatrix and Princess Mabel.
The jury praised Van Rooij's major contribution to the solution of an important and socially relevant problem. The jury also looked forward to Van Rooij's commitment to raising the visibility of the work on energy storage, including by enthusing others, as he had promised to do if he won the Prince Friso Prize.
Hydropower station
Van Rooij and a partner founded the company Ocean Grazer in 2018, as a spinoff from the University of Groningen. The Ocean Battery, which is part of Ocean Grazer, is a kind of hydropower plant on the seabed.
The battery stores excess renewable energy from solar or wind power, for example, as potential energy, using the high pressure prevailing on the seabed. To do this, the Ocean Battery pumps water from a rigid reservoir to large flexible bags or bellows on the seabed, and releases it back when the energy is needed.
Audience Award 2022
The Audience Award went to Nikéh Booister, consultant Water Safety and Climate Adaptation at Sweco. She advocates a more forward-looking view when designing the Netherlands.
Runner-up 2022
The runner-up, Sjoerd Kerstens, is leading professional water at Royal HaskoningDHV. He works on accelerating access to sanitation around the world, for example by considering wastewater as a resource. Kerstens was awarded second prize by the expert jury. One of the inventions called Nereda on which he collaborated won De Vernufteling earlier this year.
Student teams
For the first time this year, a student team was also awarded. The winner of the student competition is MSP Maastricht with the MethaGone project. The team developed a pill for cows that makes them emit less methane.
