On February 7-9, 2020, SOCAR AQS and Texas A&M University (USA) with the support of Innoland Incubation and Acceleration Center initiated the Energy Hackathon.

12 teams, selected previously among 200 participants (above 50 teams) to participate in the hackathon, came together for two intense days (48 hours) to compete for an opportunity to represent Azerbaijan in the USA by providing innovative solutions and prototypes for a specific energy challenge. During the event, 5 out of 12 teams represented French-Azerbaijani University.

We are proud to announce that Deep Divers Team of UFAZ students - 4th year Oil & Gas Engineering students Zahid Aliosmanov, Sabina Mustafayeva, Ayan Ibrahimova, and Elvin Osmanov became the winner of the Energy hackathon with their “Molten-salt Energy Storage” project and got the opportunity to compete in the virtual stage of the Invent for the Planet 2020 contest!

Zahid Aliosmanov, 4th year Oil & Gas Engineering student: “As you know, it is impossible to utilize renewable energy up to 24 hours. Our objective was to find the optimal way to save energy. The purpose of our project was to keep the molten salt heated by solar energy in the insulated tank and convert it into the electrical energy in the evenings. Later the 48 h hackathon, we submitted the prototype and presented the insights of our project in front of the jury. Fortunately, the jury considered our solution to be optimal and creative. We received an opportunity to compete in the virtual stage of the Invent for the Planet 2020 contest on the dates of February 14-16. Along with us, the E-zone team of Baku Engineering University and the Amirli team of Moscow State University Baku branch will be representing Azerbaijan in the virtual stage of this hackathon to be held by Texas A&M University. The winner of the virtual stage will be travelling to Texas, United States, to represent Azerbaijan on March 30-April 2 Invent for the Planet 2020 international competition."

We congratulate our students on their achievements and wish many more success to come!

Invent for the Planet is an innovation contest organized by the Texas A&M University to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our planet. It follows the Aggies Invent format — teams are formed based on similar interests in a need statement. The teams then research the topic and come up with a plan and build a simple prototype.

On the final day, each team puts together a video and presents its prototype to a panel of judges. Three teams are selected for first, second and third place prizes.