Honouring past OCE Board Chair David McFadden, the David McFadden Energy Entrepreneur Challenge invites university and college students from across Ontario’s academic institutions to address challenges facing the energy sector. Each year a particular challenge is selected and students pitch their entrepreneurial ideas and solutions to be judged against David’s own philosophy of innovation: that it be economically viable while also leading to the betterment of society in creating a safer, better place. The winner receives $25,000 to assist in advancing the business concept.
The theme for this year’s Energy Entrepreneur Challenge is “Conservation as a tool to meeting the world’s energy challenges”. Energy conservation and demand management (CDM) can play a key part in assisting the world to use energy responsibly and to achieve desired environmental and climate change objectives. Consumers, big and small, individuals and large corporations, can all make a contribution to CDM. The challenge is to develop an easily used and cost effective CDM system or technology which can be used by a broad spectrum of consumers in Canada or around the world.
The David McFadden Energy Entrepreneur Challenge is open to students from all faculties of publicly funded Ontario colleges, universities and hospitals. The energy solution must be the brainchild of one or several of the team members and contest entries can be done on an individual or team basis (up to four students).
Kyle Bassett, a University of Windsor student, took home the grand prize last year. Kyle designed small, 3D-printed wind turbines that allow remote communities to produce energy easily, reliably and at a low cost. They can be manufactured, installed and maintained with a fraction of the time and cost of traditional energy devices, and by designing for small amounts of energy rather than large-scale production, the need for ‘ideal’ site conditions is eliminated. For more information about Kyle’s award, please click the following link: https://www.epicentreuwindsor.ca/kyle-bassett-winner-of-the-oce-david-mcfadden-energy-entrepreneur-challenge-2015/
To enter the David McFadden Energy Entrepreneur Challenge, please complete and submit the entry form and a three-minute pitch video no later than February 22, 2016. For more information and guidelines, please visit the official competition website at: http://www.oce-ontario.org/programs/entrepreneurship-programs/entrepreneurship-fellowships/mcfadden-challenge/how-it-works.