Social Innovation
How EnergyBrid developed through Red Bull Basement University World Finals
We speak with the 2019 India winners about how their project went from concept to reality through the participation at Red Bull Basement University.
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Nandhika Venkateswaran and Lajin Bhaskar were the India winners of Red Bull Basement University 2019.
Their winning concept called EnergyBrid was an idea to use a piezoelectric grid system to generate electricity in colleges by harnessing the energy from footsteps. Using mechanics and motors placed on pathways frequented by students, the pressure of footsteps would trigger motors to generate electricity that could be used to power up parts of the college campus.
EnergyBrid was in the development phase when Nandhika and Lajin entered it in Red Bull Basement University and won the India round. As part of the winnings, they were given a month-long incubation period to bring the idea to life with support from Headstart and Helm of Eight so they could present it at the Red Bull Basement University World Finals in December 2019.
As a first-year BE Hons student of Biomedical and BSc Microbiology at University of Sydney, Nandhika was unable to be present for the beginning of the incubation phase. Lajin, a first-year B Tech student in Mechanical Engineering at Presidency University in Bengaluru, began the incubation phase and was later joined by Nandhika.
Nandhika Venkateswaran and Lajin Bhaskar
© Lajin Bhaskar
Both attended the world finals in Toronto where they presented their concept to the mentors and 16 finalists from other countries. For them, being at the world finals was a chance to exchange ideas with some of the world’s brightest student minds aiming to improve life on college campuses.
We spoke with Nandhika about how they developed EnergyBrid, their experience at the world finals, and how the project has progressed since then.
Could you tell us about how you were able to develop your ideas during the incubation period?
It started with Lajin as I was still in Sydney at the time for my exams. He started researching about the prototype and started hunting down the materials for it. He started building a theoretical model. Later when I arrived in India we had our first official meeting as a team with Headstart and Helm of Eight. We are very grateful for their help and mentoring. They gave us all the support we needed and our idea actually started coming to life. We are still developing it and we hope to make a product that is going to revolutionize the world as we know it.
Nandhika demonstrates the EnergyBrid system at the world finals
© Maggie Stephenson | Red Bull Content Pool
Could you describe the overall experience at the Red Bull Basement University World Finals in Toronto?
In one sentence I would say it was the experience of a lifetime. Meeting so many innovative students just like us from around the world was so inspiring and also a very educational experience.
What were the sessions you were part of at the world finals? What were your key takeaways from those sessions?
We had a series of workshops on developing our entrepreneurial skills, and also further mentoring to improve and polish our technical aspects. The workshop I liked the most was the Red Bull Story Academy, which was run by Sam Packwood; it taught us how to develop our marketing skills so much. Other key takeaways would be the trip to CISCO innovation hub where I learnt that innovations don’t always have to be extravagant but can happen in areas they are least expected.
The participants at the Red Bull Basement University World Finals 2019
© Maggie Stephenson | Red Bull Content Pool
Did you speak with any of the other finalists about their projects? Which were the most interesting ideas?
Yes, we talked to a lot of the other finalists about their projects. As a matter of fact, we became such good friends and are all still in touch. The innovations Temp by Magdeline Huang from New Zealand and CampAssist by Hasan Zafar and Zain Reza from Pakistan were the most interesting according to us. Those innovations could make student lives so much easier.
Did any of the interactions at the world finals inspire a change in your concept or open your eyes to a different form of innovation?
It didn’t exactly inspire us but yes, I would definitely say [the experience at the world finals] gave us the confidence boost we needed to keep our innovation alive and running. We are also looking for other sectors such as biomedical technologies to expand our idea.
Nandhika interacts with other world finalists
© Maggie Stephenson | Red Bull Content Pool
Could you tell us more about the progress on EnergyBrid from the Red Bull Basement University World Finals to now?
EnergyBrid is developing slowly and we have reached some amazing milestones over the last year. Lajin represented us at the Google Build for Digital India and we have also expanded our team; our newest members are Thanvi and Jaisoorya, who are also our closest friends. We hope to get our start-up running soon, although COVID-19 has altered our plans for now.