CONCEPT Stage Winners Selected to Move on to INCUBATION Stage, Including Two Teams from Alden
Congratulations are in order for two teams from Alden who were selected as finalists for the American-Made Challenges® Fish Protection Prize. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), in collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation launched this three-stage competition to seek innovative solutions to protect fish from water infrastructure, such as water diversions and pipes, and intakes at hydropower dams.
This prize expects to distribute a total of $700,000 of combined cash prizes and voucher support in order to incentivize the development of innovative solutions to advance fish exclusion technology.
Alden's Fish Protection Prize Finalists
Competitors were evaluated based on the technical innovation, technical feasibility, market feasibility, and the proposed research and development plan.
The winning submissions from Alden include two innovative fish exclusion designs.
Benjamin Mater's team submission, entitled "Deal with the Devil Fish: Biometric Screen" features an efficient new bar shape for fish exclusion screens inspired by filter-feeding fish. He proposes to develop this concept using computer models and Alden's available lab flume.
Jenna Rackovan's team submitted a concept known as a "Fish Entrainment Reduction Structure," or FERS. The FERS is designed to be installed at either an angle to guide or parallel to exclude bottom-oriented fish from intakes.
Congratulations to both teams!
More about the Fish Protection Prize
The 9 finalists selected in the CONCEPT stage will enter the INCUBATION Stage where participants will be paired with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and will receive up to 50 hours of technical analysis or other support in advance of the PITCH CONTEST to determine which of the finalists will receive the cash and voucher Grand Prizes.
This prize builds on the initial Fish Exclusion Prize, run by the Bureau of Reclamation. A top placing solution for that prize was submitted by Benjamin Mater of Alden Research Laboratory.
Discover more online: American Made Fish Protection Prize
