Energy Now!
An Impact Accelerator by ETH Zurich
Congratulations to the winners of Energy Now 2.0!
The Finale Night of Energy Now! 2.0 took place on 7 December at ewz Oerlikon. We were very impressed by the achievements of all teams!
We were very happy to honor three teams, in particular, who gave both excellent pitches as well as submitted high-quality projects. The teams TempTrim and GridFlex jointly received the Audience Award, whle the team VisoFlex received the Jury Award.
Take a look at their submissions here!
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Team Visoflex (Charlotte Jacquet, Maria Moujaes, Emma Steinke, Alexandre Macher, Zhi Wang) (Michele McCoig Phtotography) -
Team TempTrim (Oleksandr Halipchak, Florian Schubert, Bea Movido, Clara Tillous) (Michele McCoig Phtotography) -
Team Gridflex (Jan Heldmann, Dominique Steverlynck, Ramona Stol, Boxuan Yao, Vivian Chen) (Michele McCoig Phtotography)
Impressions from Energy Now! 2.0
What is “Energy Now!” about?
"Energy Now!” started off in fall 2022 as an ETH initiative to enable science based solutions to prevent or to deal with the potential energy crisis in Zurich (or beyond) in the winter of 2022. This year's challenges are themed around pressing problems related to flexibility potential of the electricty grid as well as efficient use of energy and heat in the transportation system. Specifically, we have designed five challenges together with our industry partners:
- Visualising flexibility for different stakeholders
- Energy savings tool for public transport
- The billing problem of bidirectional charging in e-mobility
- Opportunity costs of ancillary services in Switzerland
Read more about each challenge here.
Overall, Energy Now! is is a platform, provided by the Energy Science Center, to facilitate the dialogue between the scientific community and private and public actors. In the initiative, Zurich serves as a “lab”, the solutions could have an impact in Switzerland or even in Europe. We encourage forming interdisciplinary teams that can develop solutions to the challenges over a short time frame. These solutions need to be innovative, feasible and effective.
Process and upcoming events
Kick-Off Event: 2 October, 17:00, Dozentenfoyer (ETH Zentrum campus)
Registration deadline: 5 October
First Extra-Workshop: 19 October, 14:00 - 19:00 (HG E41)
Feedback Workshop: 21 November, 17:00 - 19:00, Dozentenfoyer (ETH Zentrum campus)
Second Extra-Workshop: 23 November, 14:00 - 19:00 (HG E41)
Finale Night: 7 December, 18:00-21:30, ewz Oerlikon (external pageTickets available via GreenBuzz Zurich)
(also check out other events of the external pageEnergy Week @ ETH 2023, 4-8 December)
At the Kick-Off event, industry partners will present their challenges in short pitches. You will be able to ask in-depth questions, meet potential team mates and find an industry mentor.
The last date for registration is 5 October, i.e. three days after the Kick-Off. This date has been chosen to allow for last-minute registrations.
The two extra workshop are for students only. We have reserved rooms for you to work with your whole team for several focused hours at a time. We thus hope to support students in finding space and time to work on their solutions with their whole team.
At the feedback workshop, industry partners will help you assess your progress so far and give further guidance.
Your final submissions will be due by midnight on November 30.
All teams will have the opportunity to pitch their projects to a wide audience at the external pageEnergy Now! 2.0 Finale Night on 7 December. At the Finale Night, the winning team - chosen by an expert jury - will be announced. We will also award a "People's Choice" on the night!
How can I participate?
It's simple:
Step 1: Inform yourself about the challenges here.
Step 2: Sign up here - ideally with a team - by Thursday, 5 October.
Furthermore, we held a Kickoff event on 2 October where industry partners pitched their challenges, students were able to discuss these in-depth, find a mentor as well as potential teammates. In case you weren't able to attend the kickoff event, please find the slides below.
Support and contacts for all activities will be provided by the Energy Science Center. Make sure to read the FAQ.
Who can participate?
Teams can include ETH Zurich students (BSc, MSc and others), junior and senior researchers, staff, and professors eager to make a difference in a short time. Participants should be eager to grasp the opportunity to grow and develop an idea with great potential impact; receive feedback from and network with industry experts and policymakers; and learn from various stakeholders and specialists from the energy sector. At least one team member needs to be an ETH Zurich affiliate (student, researcher, or staff). Team members can come from any scientific field, such as computer science (e.g. data management, system of systems, machine learning, artificial intelligence), electrical engineering (e.g. real-time measurement and control, smart meters, smart grids, system analysis), social sciences (e.g. nudging, acceptance, literacy, economics in general).
Partners of "Energy Now!"
The ETH initiative "Energy Now!" is kindly supported by David Wallerstein.
Contact us:
Project Lead: Dr. Christian Schaffner
Project Manager:
Communication:
An ETH Zurich Initiative by the Energy Science Center (ESC), in collaboration with the Institute of Science, Technology and Policy (ISTP).
