Last year COWRIE ran the third round of student awards for graduates and postgraduates completing a thesis on environmental research into marine renewable energy. Candidates for each category were shortlisted and asked to submit their full thesis for consideration by members of the Cowrie Board of Trustees.
Today Cowrie Ltd is pleased to announce that it has made Awards to Charles Pearce (University of Exeter) and Miguel Gallego Gomez (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow) and congratulate both candidates on their success.
Charles was awarded the Undergraduate prize and Miguel received the Postgraduate prize; both candidates have received a prize of £750.
Charles, who graduated with a BSc. Renewable Energy at the University of Exeter, produced a report on a wave Energy converter software module for the Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) wave modeling package. He quoted:
"I was delighted to find out that my thesis, which was based on increasing the accuracy of a simulation used to model the impact of wave energy converters deployment, had been selected as the winner of the 2009 COWRIE student awards. I really enjoyed working on this project as it allowed me to develop my understanding of wave energy technology and at the same time provide an original contribution to the industry. Myself and the team at Exeter have since carried further studies using the updated software to provide a better simulation of the interactions resulting from the Wave Hub development. I have since left working on wave energy development and am currently focusing on a career in the wind industry; however I have aspirations to return to wave power in the future as the sector expands. I would like to thank the COWRIE group for selecting my project for the award and for the team at Exeter University for all the support throughout the course of this project and my studies. "
Miguel’s entry was completed as part of his MSc studies in Energy Systems and the Environment at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and was a report on the Marine Current Turbines Array Effects. When he received the award, Miguel said: “It is a real honour for me to have received this award from COWRIE for my final thesis into the array effects of marine current turbines. I would like to thank the board members for considering my work to deserve the award. I should also like to address a few words of thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Andy Grant, and to other staff members of the University of Strathclyde, especially Dr.Gary Connor, for their tremendous support.I had an unforgettable time during the period I worked on the thesis, and had the chance to research on a field with a huge potential that should hopefully take a leading position in the energy sector during the upcoming years.”
Speaking on behalf of the COWRIE Education & Communications group and Board, Dr Carolyn Heeps commented: "The Cowrie Student Award scheme once again attracted submissions of a very high quality. We wish both students well in their future careers within the offshore renewables industry. Recent years have seen a significant increase in the number of students attracted to such courses to pursue careers in the offshore renewables industry. This is an exciting time for students as the growth in the industry through Round 3 and future wave and tidal deployment will provide many varied opportunities for career development".