Taking the Power Back: Designing a Replicable Neighborhood Grid

Transitioning to alternative energy can help the environment and lower energy bills, but the process can be complicated, and the up-front costs can be high for individual homeowners. In collaboration with the Australian Energy Foundation, our team worked with residents of Halpin Street in Brunswick West, VIC, investigating the path they might take and the options they might consider in setting up a neighborhood microgrid. Through the literature review, interviews with local companies and residents, and solar mapping software, we identified the best options for energy generation, storage, monitoring systems, and AC/DC inverters, sharing our recommendations with residents and outlining our process so other neighborhoods might work together to pursue this path

Formula SAE Electric

The Formula SAE Competition is an international collegiate design competition where teams design and build formula-style race cars. The cars are evaluated by a technical inspection, design and cost judging, a business logic scenario, and a series of driving events ending in an endurance race. During the 2020-21 academic year, the WPI FSAE team made the transition away from the combustion competition to the electric formula competition. The vehicle had to be designed from the ground up to incorporate an accumulator, an electric motor, and other tractive systems. The frame is completely redesigned in order to package all of these new components along with a driver. The team is using a two year build cycle in which the vehicle will be finished by the 2021-22 MQP team