Published:
October 26, 2017
Cockrell School of Engineering undergraduate students Mandeep Gupta, Malvika Patel and Taylor Zhao won the Shell Ideas360 International Design Competition, which targets energy, water and food issues. The students won the overall program and Audience Choice Award for their patented design, which attaches a solar panel to coils built from memory alloys that contract when heated, allowing the panel to pivot in the direction of the sun and track its movement throughout the sky. Powered by radiative heating, the design is more efficient and less costly than current tracking systems. View a video about their award-winning design here.