TMC Electronics advises Team FAST as they develop a new sustainable fuel
In 2015, several students from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) founded Team FAST. Their goal? To develop a new sustainable fuel made from hydrozine that will change today’s energy infrastructure. TMC Electronics advised the team as they made important decisions during the process.
A world with sustainable energy as the standard, without negative impacts on our society, our economy, or our way of life. With this vision in mind, 30 technicians work together as Team FAST. “We started the team with several students from the TU/e who were invited to do a project alongside their studies,” says Tom Sommers, Electrical Engineer at Team FAST. “What we all had in common was a mission to raise public awareness of hydrozine as an alternative energy carrier. Hydrozine consists mainly of formic acid, and it can be made from CO2 and water. Over the past few years, our team has developed a process to produce hydrozine for transportation using only materials from sustainable sources, such as CO2 from manure and electricity from windmills. In this way, hydrozine becomes a completely new sustainable fuel that can be easily implemented in the current energy infrastructure, and therefore daily life.”
“The invention of Team FAST is a very promising development that has the potential to change the world of energy.”
Brainstorm with TMC Electronics When several Employeneurs from TMC Electronics heard about the development of Team FAST, they decided to help the team by organising a brainstorming session. Employeneur Maarten Dam says: “At TMC, we think it’s important to follow new innovations. The invention of Team FAST is a very promising development that has the potential to change the world of energy. We were very happy to get involved in the process and to advise the team with our own expertise. The brainstorm itself was a great success. One of the most important aspects we talked about was how to develop a concept into a market-ready product, and what decisions should be made to reach this stage. We discussed the development of several sub-modules and brainstormed how the design of the product could be fine-tuned. For me, this was a fascinating process. I have a lot of experience in this area from my project at ASML, where I’m involved in making similar decisions on a daily basis. Over the years, I have learned the most important aspects to consider when producing a real machine for clients. I enjoy sharing this knowledge with others to benefit new and promising developments, such as Team FAST.” Tom adds to that: “Another bit of advice from TMC that really helped was the importance of finding a partner to join us in finalising the development. This was a huge eye-opener and something we’d like to make happen as soon as possible.”
Sustainable world Recently, Team FAST presented their latest designs and development progress at the VDMA Eindhoven. Many partners and interested parties were invited, including TMC. Tom: “We hope to finalise our development in the coming months and to inspire others about sustainable fuel. Moreover, we are proud of what we have already accomplished and thank TMC and the other companies who were willing to help us grow. At the moment, we have an interesting partnership with VDL to develop the first bus that will run on hydrozine. We believe that with this we have something unique to present to the world. Together, we hope our project will be used in the near future, and on a huge scale, to make the world more sustainable!”
If you like to know more about Team FAST or want to start a collaboration, please visit: teamfast.nl.