Congratulations to the three faculty winners and five runners-up in the inaugural EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP) Faculty Track! First-, second-, and third-place winners were awarded $25,000, $15,000, and $10,000, respectively. Additionally, five faculty runners-up were awarded $2,000 each. 

The EnergyTech UP Faculty Track supported faculty members at collegiate institutions as they explored, developed, and implemented educational activities to engage more students in energy technology commercialization and entrepreneurship at their institution. The track offered $100,000 in cash prizes throughout its three phases. 

Congratulations to our EnergyTech UP 2024 Faculty Track winners!

  • First Place, earning $25,000: Maryam Younessi Sinaki, PhD, Cleveland State University (Cleveland, OH) 
  • Second Place, earning $15,000: Brien Walton, J.D. Ed.D., Husson University (Bangor, ME) 
  • Third Place, earning $10,000: Kassandra McQuillen, J.D., Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX) 

Additionally, we congratulate the five Faculty Track runners-up, earning $2,000 each (organized alphabetically by last name): 

  • Derek Abrams, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (Edinburg, TX) 
  • Mohammad Biswas, University of Texas at Tyler (Tyler, TX)
  • Gary Koenig, the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA) 
  • Dawen Li, The University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL) 
  • Irene Reizman, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, IN) 

EnergyTech UP is a collegiate competition for both students and faculty, aimed at growing clean energy entrepreneurship. The Office of Technology Transition has announced the upcoming launch of EnergyTech UP 2025, which will again offer students and faculty members cash prizes for their efforts in energy entrepreneurship. 

The 2025 program will open in fall 2024 and both tracks will begin competing in early 2025. Follow EnergyTech UP on HeroX for updates on the 2025 competition.