Hydrogen Powered Boat by Coimbatore Students Puts Them On Global Stage

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Students at Kumaraguru Institute of Technology in Coimbatore are an excited lot. A hydrogen powered energy boat built by a ten member student team has qualified for the finals of the acclaimed Monaco Energy Boat Challenge to be held in July. This is the only entry from India.

“It’s a green energy sustainable boat” says Swaminathan C, a third year student who’s the boat’s pilot. Made of carbon fibre and fibre reinforced plastic, Swaminathan adds “the 80 KG boat can “sail for four hours or cover 22 nautical miles powered by a unit of hydrogen”.

The team that includes four girls “also developed the propulsion system for the boat” says Shri Sanjanaa S E, a second year student.

The group worked hard for a year. While the college had developed a testing facility to test the propulsion, the teams used a lake for testing the boat. On the experience, Hemalatha V, another student says “It was challenging as we began from the scratch. While in many European countries boat is part of many families, it was completely new for us”.

The team had finished sixth last year in the same competition. This time they worked harder for a year and are hoping for a podium finish. The team has also applied for a government grant. A world recognition in this, Swaminathan says would “help us to fine tune this prototype to give a range of sustainable mobility solutions”.

The project they say costs them around 65 lakh rupees. While they have managed 45 lakh via sponsorship, they are crowd funding around a twenty lakh.

Usually IITs participate in global competitions like this. “We are so proud to represent India and offer a sustainable solution” says Hemalatha.

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