Proceedings of the Second International Energy 2030 Conference,
November 4-5, 2008, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

A Renewable Energy Project for Senior Mechanical Engineering Students: A Wave-Powered Generator

A. Goharzadeh
The Petroleum Institute, UAE

A. Molki
The Petroleum Institute, UAE

Abstract
The fundamental objective of the Petroleum Institute (PI) is to offer board yet comprehensive subjects for the next generation of engineers. The Mechanical Engineering program, in particular, provides its students the opportunity to work on design projects related to sustainable energy and environmental issues. With this in mind, an alternative energy project was offered in the form of a senior design project over the course of two semesters as a means to educate engineers on these topics. The objective of the design project was to develop a wave-powered generator for converting water wave energy to a stable direct current and further stored to power small size electronic sensors and actuators. The challenge, however, was to find the most efficient way to produce electricity by means of induction, and to create a low-weight and rugged setup [1]. Fundamental basis of design process were applied during two semesters to overcome a challenging problem related to environmental engineering.