October - 12 Months of Innovation
Happy Halloween! Each month we release our 12 Months of Innovation newsletter, where we share exciting stories from across our customer base, Wazoku Crowd of Solvers and startups, and wider ecosystem.
In October 2024's edition, you'll discover how:
Let's dive in:
Customer of the Month - Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO)
MISO, or the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator, is an Independent System Operator and Regional Transmission Organization headquartered in Carmel, Indiana. MISO is the electric grid operator for the central United States, ensuring power flows reliably and affordably across 15 states and the Canadian province of Manitoba.
With Wazoku Crowd, MISO are currently running an exciting open innovation Challenge - submissions are accepted until 23:59pm on November 3rd (this Sunday!). The Challenge, New Approaches to Baselining the Performance of Distributed Energy Resources, is searching for Solvers to develop methodologies for more robust, reliable, and data-driven approaches to DER baselining.
Here to tell you a little bit more about MISO's opportunity is Juan Felipe Gómez Guerrero , Innovation Consultant at Wazoku:
As mentioned, Distributed Energy Resources or DERs are small-scale energy generation and storage systems that are located near sites where that energy is used. These can be as simple as rooftop solar panels, or as complex as microgrid systems!
As the demand for clean, reliable, and affordable energy continues to grow, DERs are becoming an increasingly important part of modern energy systems. Their growing importance is driven by the following factors:
However, to ensure proper incorporation of DERs into existing energy systems, a few problems need to be resolved. One of the most important of them is the issue of DER baselining.
DER baselining is the process of establishing a reference point or benchmark against which the DER performance or impact on the performance of the whole grid can be measured.
Baselining is important because it allows companies like MISO to identify changes in grid behavior that can be attributed to DERs, and provides a framework for evaluating the performance of DERs (both from an energy generation and a policy perspective)!
Now that you've learned a bit more about the Challenge, why not get started before the November 3rd due date! MISO's Challenge has a $15,000 USD guaranteed award, so apply today to be in with a shot of claiming the prize. Get started today: Join the Challenge!
Solver of the Month – Gabriel Cséfalvay
This month, we interviewed Gabriel Cséfalvay – who took part in his very first crowdsourcing Challenge recently – and won! A2A were searching for designs for a hardware receiving device that unlocked the ability to take real-time corrective action to adjust energy consumption for users. See the full interview below!
Wazoku Crowd: What brought you to this Challenge about IoT Energy monitoring?
Gabriel: This was the first challenge I participated in. I was looking for interesting projects to work on and I discovered crowdsourcing.
The competitive element of the challenges, where the outcome is uncertain, gives this field an interesting spiciness. This particular challenge was a perfect fit for my expertise – that was also motivating for me. So I decided to create my solution.
Q: Can you tell us more about your solution to this Challenge?
I designed a hardware solution from scratch – it's the most efficient way for the required large volume production, and also the most flexible one in terms of optimizations. I took into perspective the ease of manufacturing, quality of user experience, reliability, and of course the original technical requirements of the projects (such as size, functions etc.).?
So I came up with a design with additional features like the following:?
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I always try to go beyond just meeting technical requirements by focusing on the people involved. I imagine my design as a product in the hands of an end user: what they do with it, what they expect, how they feel about it. I also think about the team members within the company who will work with, manufacture or sell the final product. I combine my marketing and business knowledge with electronic design – approaching the solution not only as an engineering challenge, but as a product with market potential.
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Q: What is your traditional problem-solving process?
I don't have a rigid 'process'; instead, I iterate until I'm satisfied with the outcome, which isn't always easy for a perfectionist. I naturally have an expansive and wandering thinking that allows me to view the project from different perspectives, identifying potential shortcomings and areas for improvement. I continuously critique and refine the design, solving issues as they arise and integrating thoughts and improvements along the way.?
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Q: Do you plan to participate in more challenges on Wazoku Crowd, and if so, what types of problems are you most interested in solving?
Definitely yes. However, I’ve noticed that there aren’t many projects in the field of electronics and radio communication. I guess purely technical challenges receive less attention nowadays. I'm interested in contributing to any existing problem where my area of expertise can add value.
Q: What advice would you give to fellow Solvers?
1. Find Your Motivation. It's crucial for this type of work. It's important to reflect on what motivates you – the project's impact on the world, the issue it addresses, your confidence level in the given problem, you interest level in taking up a challenge and stretching yourself, how the project aligns with your personal interests, or if it would move you in a desired direction in your life. These are some questions that can provide a sense of personal motivation.
2. Think Beyond the Paper. Imagine your design as a product used in real-life situations, by real people. Imagine the product being used, think about the people using it, even imagine it being sold and mass-produced – imagine the people executing these tasks. Look for imperfections, seek constructive criticism. This way you can come up with something that can solve a problem really seamlessly.
Thank you for your answers!
Thank you for the opportunity.
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About Gabriel: I have a Master's degree in electronics design and radio communications.?I started with electronics as a hobby interest and it grew into a profession. Since then I've worked on numerous electronics projects, including some industrial ones — as a designer and firmware developer.?I also have an MBA degree in marketing and management and I've expanded my skills in product development and design through self-learning.
Connect with me on LinkedIn here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/gcsefalvay
Organization of the Month – Bedrock Ocean Exploration
Wazoku works with the Norwegian Offshore Wind accelerator to serve open innovation Challenges to NOW’s portfolio of partners, stakeholders, and beyond – to the Wazoku Crowd of Solvers.
Late last year, NOW and ?rsted ran a Challenge seeking innovative solutions that reduce noise emissions from survey equipment, minimizing the environmental impact and keeping in line with regulations.
In May 2024, Wazoku’s Senior Director of Innovation Ecosystems, Sch?nning Eysturoy , attended Floating Wind Days in Haugesund, Norway, a premier conference in the sector. Bedrock Ocean Exploration, the winner of the Challenge, was in attendance and gave an incredible pitch of their solution. This month, we’d like to revisit and share a little about Bedrock, in their own words!
Bedrock’s mission is to provide a free, publicly-accessible map of the world’s oceans, with their goal that this map would be 50x as detailed as currently-available public maps. To do this, Bedrock’s technology and approach gathers seafloor data with minimal environmental impact, risk of endangered animal takes, and infrastructure damage. Alongside this public mission, Bedrock provides surveying, investigation, inspection, and decommissioning services to a number of sectors, including: Energy & Infrastructure, Marine Research, and Maritime Security.
Bedrock is also a Public Benefit Corporation – all representatives of the company are required to consider more than just the ROI of its solutions and services: they’re also providing a defined public benefit throughout the life of the business.
Sch?nning was impressed with Bridgit Boulahanis ’ speech about the Bedrock solution, mission, and application for the Norwegian Offshore Wind and ?rsted Challenge. Bridgit is the Director of Data & Solutions at Bedrock.
Their solution was selected for their innovative approach to higher-resolution and lower-impact geophysical surveys, which was appropriate to solving ?rsted’s problem: where current underwater surveys generate a lot of noise, which is both a risk to marine mammals and can cause problems with the regulatory constraints in the space. ?
To learn more about Bedrock, you can visit their solutions page here: https://www.bedrockocean.com/solutions
Follow Bedrock on LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/bedrockocean/
We hoped everyone enjoyed October 2024's 12 Months of Innovation. Subscribe to be the first to receive next month's edition!