The MIT Energy and Climate Hack brought together participants from myriad fields and disciplines to develop rapid, revolutionary solutions to one of the vital complex challenges facing society today: the worldwide energy and climate crisis. Lots of of scholars from MIT and colleges across the globe convened on MIT’s campus and virtually for this yr’s event, which was held Nov. 10-12.

Established in 2013, the MIT Energy and Climate Hack has been the launchpad for revolutionary and sustainable solutions for a decade; an annual reminder that exciting recent ideas are all the time just across the corner.

In accordance with Claire Lorenzo, an MIT student organizer and communications director for this yr’s Energy and Climate Hack, “There have been so much of individuals from so much of places who showed up; each virtually and in person. It was encouraging to see how driven everyone was. How passionate they were about finding great solutions. You may see these ideas beginning to form immediately.”

On the primary day, representatives from corporations across quite a few industries presented participants with their most pressing energy and climate-related challenges. Once the gathering broke into teams, participants had two days to “hack the challenge” they were assigned and present their solution to company representatives, fellow hackers, and judges.  

The main focus areas at this yr’s event were energy markets, transportation, and farms and forests. Participating corporate sponsors included Google, Crusoe, Ironwood, Foothill Ventures, Koidra, Mitra Chem, Avangrid, Schneider Electric, First Solar, and Climate Ledger. 

This yr’s event also marked the primary time that artificial intelligence emerged as a viable tool for developing creative climate solutions. Lorenzo observed, “I’m studying computer science, so exploring how AI could possibly be harnessed to have a positive impact on the climate was particularly exciting for me. It may be applicable to virtually any domain. Like transportation, [with emissions] for instance. In agriculture, too.”

Energy and Climate Hack organizers identified the implementation of 4 core AI applications for special consideration: the acceleration of discovery (shortening the event process while concurrently producing less waste), optimizing real-world solutions (utilizing automation to extend efficiency), prediction (using AI to enhance prediction algorithms), and processing unstructured data (using AI to investigate and scale large amounts of information efficiently).

“If there was a shared sentiment among the many participants, it might probably be the concept there isn’t a singular solution to climate change,” says Lorenzo, “and that requires cooperation from various industries, leveraging knowledge and experience from quite a few fields, to make an enduring impact.”

After the initial round of presentations concluded, one team from each challenge advanced from the preliminary presentation judging session to the ultimate presentation round, where they pitched their solutions to a crowded room of attendees. Once the semi-finalists had pitched their solutions, the judges deliberated over the entries and chosen team Fenergy, which worked within the energy markets sector, because the winners. The team, consisting of Alessandro Fumi, Amal Nammouchi, Amaury De Bock, Cyrine Chaabani, and Robbie Lee V, said, “Our solution, Unbiased Cathode, enables researchers to evaluate the availability chain implications of battery materials before development begins, hence reducing the lab-to-production timeline.”

“They created a LLM [large language model]-powered tool that permits revolutionary recent battery technologies to be iterated and developed rather more efficiently,” Lorenzo added.

When asked what she is going to remember most about her first experience on the MIT Energy and Climate Hack, Lorenzo replied, “Having hope for the long run. Hope from seeing the fervour that so many individuals have to seek out an answer. Hope from seeing all of those individuals come thus far to tackle this challenge and make a difference. If we proceed to develop and implement solutions like these on a world level, I’m hopeful.”

Students desirous about learning more in regards to the MIT Energy and Climate Hackathon, or participating in next yr’s Hack, can find more information on the event website.