Team Blade TIP’s Erica Lois Vinculado, Niel Jon Carl Aguel, Eduardo Narciso Jr., Paul Vincent Nonat and Ana Luz Callao pose with a mock check of their P200,000 prize money and the prototype of ‘iLawa’A team of engineering students from the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) topped a Lopez Group-supported interschool competition for the best renewable energy (RE) idea or solution for poor rural communities.

“iLawa,” a submersible deferred-action battery system developed by Team Blade TIP, bested nine other finalists to win the grand prize at the final judging for the Sikat Design Challenge interschool tilt in Pasig City.

The Sikat Design Challenge is the country’s first annual inter-university competition that focuses on attracting from college students RE solutions for possible application in rural communities.

Sikat Solar Challenge Foundation Inc. (SSCFI) holds the annual school competition, now on its second 11-month cycle, as part of its advocacy to promote RE development and use.

. One team each from the University of San Carlos (USC) and Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) emerged as runners-up. USC’s Team Kahayag entered “Kaplag,” a wind turbine for lighting and alternative gardening, while AdMU’s Team Agilas submitted “Buhawi,” a dynamic vertical axis wind turbine.

“What our 40 participating teams have achieved with their ideas and hard work, and the lives they have touched along the way, is truly inspirational to us. From the start, it was our intention to ‘inspire the youth.’ Little did we know that it would be a two-way street,” said SSCFI executive director Al Santos.

Team Blade TIP members received a P200,000 cash prize and a free trip to Semakau Island, Asia’s first micro-grid hybrid facility located in Singapore. The USC and AdMU teams each received a P150,000 cash prize. A portion of the cash prize goes to further developing the prototype and, eventually, its full implementation in the community.(Story/Photos by: Joel Gaborni)