India's Kumaraguru College wins top prize at Monaco Energy Boat Challenge

The Prince Albert II Award, the highest honour at the Challenge and worth 25,000 euros (approximately Rs 25 lakh), recognises the university presenting the best technological solution for yachting in terms of energy efficiency and carbon reduction, with a focus on projects that actively advance sustainable maritime practices. It was announced at the Challenge's prize ceremony, capping a five-year journey for the Indian team at the event.

The winning project was a battery thermal management system built around a phase-change material, using paraffin and expanded graphite as the core components. Reshma Sheriff, Operational Executive with Team Sea Sakthi, said the team believed the innovation stood out for being both efficient and cost-effective. "This is the first time we've qualified for this award, and we have won it as well," she said, calling the recognition "a pride in itself" and thanking her parents, her institution, and mentors Kiran Lal and Veera for their support through the project. She credited the achievement to her full 12-member team and said the Prince Albert II Foundation's role in backing emerging innovation made the win especially meaningful for India.

Shankar Vanavarayar, Executive Director of Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore called the win a proud moment not just for the institution but for the country's energy ambitions. He said battery technology would be central to India's push toward self-reliance, and praised the Prince Albert Foundation for backing global innovation that is both sustainable and safe. The grant, he said, gives the student team a year to further develop the technology, with an eye on eventually building it into a viable business.

Vanavarayar noted this was the institution's fifth consecutive year at the Challenge, with 12 to 15 students taking part annually, more than 60 per cent of them travelling to Europe for the first time. "If you trust young people, give them the opportunity, anything is possible in India," he said, adding that competing against universities with centuries of history was itself a marker of how far young Indian institutions have come. "It is India's time now," he said, stressing the need for the country to build intellectual property and technological capability alongside its economic scale.

Bernard d'Alessandri, Secretary General of the Yacht Club de Monaco, welcomed the growing Indian participation at the event, saying it reflected the country's expanding presence in the sustainable yachting space. "It's incredible to have students from everywhere around the world at the same time here in Monaco, and I think your presence here is a sign that things are developing in India," he said, adding that he hoped to see more Indian teams at the Challenge next year. He noted that Prince Albert II takes the recovery and protection of the seas seriously, and that the award presented in his name was among the most significant honours of the evening.

The award win came even as Team Sea Sakthi's campaign in the Energy Class Race hit a setback, with the team forced out due to engine failure, a reminder of the technical challenges that come with competing at the cutting edge of marine engineering. The team had earlier completed the Energy Class Endurance Race in 11th place among 16 teams, its best endurance finish in five years at the Challenge, before the Energy Class Race disruption. (ANI)