Comprising Lin I-fan, Liu Chun-lin, Su Hsien-chin and Wu Zhi-jie, the team trumped nearly 600 rivals from leading educational institutions worldwide to claim the honor and a cash prize of US$7,500. Graduates of RWTH Aachen University in Germany and U.S.-based Rice University finished first and second, respectively.
Team advisor Ma Hsiao-kan, a professor at NTU, said EcoBreeze is the result of several years research on piezoelectric materials. “It is designed to replace conventional rotary fans and can be used in PCs, notebooks and thin clients.”
According to Ma, the system boasts five key advantages: low energy consumption, whisper-quiet operation, longer lifetime, reduced size and razor-thin production costs. “ICT firms such as Acer Inc., AsusTek Computer Inc., Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. are expected to consider the viability of EcoBreeze,” he added.
Rice Business Plan Competition is the world’s richest and largest student startup competitions. (DF-JSM)
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