Winners of the 6th Maritime Seed Awards announced

Aktar finanzjamenti b’appoġġ lill-qasam marittimu
Imħabbra r-rebbieħa tas-sitt Maritime Seed Awards

Is-sitt edizzjoni tal-Maritime Seed Awards se tappoġġja ħames timijiet ta’ imprendituri u riċerkaturi li jaħdmu fil-qasam marittimu, fl-iżvilupp tal-proposti tagħhom li jaslu mill-kunċett sal-kummerċjalizzazzjoni.

Il-fondi ġew mogħtija permezz ta’ kollaborazzjoni bejn Transport Malta u l-Università ta’ Malta, li se jkunu qegħdin jipprovdu sa’ €20,000 f’fondi għal kull tim, fuq perjodu ta’ sena. Riċerkaturi u imprendituri kienu appoġjati min-Knowledge Transfer Office u TAKEOFF Business Incubator fil-proċess tal-applikazzjoni tagħhom, u ingħataw workshops u assistenza. Erba’ teknoloġiji ta’ Proof of Concept u proposta tas-Seed Fund kienu magħżula għall-fondi.

MedFOWT ipproponiet il-kunċett versatili ta’ Floating Offshore Wind Turbine, li tinkludi sistema ta’ rmiġġ f’punt wieħed, li huwa ddiżinjat speċifikament biex jiflaħ għall-kundizzjonijiet tal-Mediterran ċentrali; IP Cosy għandha sistema li żżid l-effiċjenza u l-effettività tat-tkessiħ tal-panelli fotovoltajċi; WinMar tiffoka fuq turbini tar-riħ żgħar iddiżinjati apposta għall-ambjent marittimu u DeSloSH ser tiffoka fuq l-iżvilupp ta’ infrastruttura bi prezz baxx, li tnaqqas iċ-ċafċif tal-ilma ġot-tankijiet fuq bastimenti li jġorru l-fjuwil. Il-benefiċjarju tal-fondi, Borg & Kaupps, għandu għan li jiżviluppa teknoloġija li tiskopri il-gass. Din it-teknoloġija tista’ tiċċekken u m’għandhiex bżonn ħafna enerġija, u b’hekk tista’ tiġi installata fuq bagi intelliġenti. Dan jagħmilha aktar faċli għall-Awtoritajiet tal-Port u Aġenziji tal-Gvern biex jissorveljaw u jirrappurtaw l-użu ta’ emmissjonijiet ta’ fjuwil b’bażi tal-kubrit f’operazzjonijiet marittimi.

Is-Sur Joseph Bugeja, Chairman u CEO ta’ Transport Malta qal li “Huwa għan tal-Awtorità li tassisti u tappoġġja individwi innovattivi u kreattivi biex jiksbu suċċess. F’dan il-każ, qegħdin nesploraw u niffukaw l-isforzi tagħna fuq dan is-settur dinamiku, li bla dubju, huwa settur ta’ prijorità f’Malta. Evidentament, hija ta’ importanza fundamentali li nipprovdu assistenza finanzjarja fi stat bikri, biex ngħinu lill-individwi jibdlu l-ideat kreattivi tagħhom f’kunċetti li jwasslu għall-kumerċjalizzazzjoni.

Prof. Alfred J. Vella, ir-rettur tal-Università ta’ Malta qal li “Fi żmien li huwa definit mill-bidla fil-klima u ż-żieda fl-isforz biex jiġi protett l-ambjent, huwa inkoraġġanti li tara spinta lejn l-iżvilupp u tisħiħ ta’ sorsi ta’ enerġija rinovabbli u sforz biex jiġu kkontrollati emissjonijiet ta’ karbonju. Li nkun naf li l-Università ta’ Malta għandha parti fl-irwol biex tagħmel din l-industrija aktar sostenibbli huwa bħallikieku twettiq ta’ dover biex intejbu s-soċjetà permezz tal-għarfien li nikkultivaw.

Għal aktar informazzjoni dwar il-Maritime Seed Award, żur https://takeoff.org.mt/seed-funds/.

More funding in support of the maritime field
Winners of the 6th Maritime Seed Awards announced

The sixth edition of the Maritime Seed Awards will support five teams of entrepreneurs and researchers working in the maritime field in the development of their proposals, taking them from concept to commercialisation.

The funds were awarded through a collaboration between Transport Malta and the University of Malta, and provide up to €20,000 in funding per team, over the period of a year. Researchers and entrepreneurs were supported by the Knowledge Transfer Office and TAKEOFF Business Incubator throughout the application process, and were given workshops and assistance. Four Proof of Concept technologies and one Seed Fund proposal have been selected for funding.

MedFOWT proposes a versatile Floating Offshore Wind Turbine platform concept which includes a single point mooring system and is specifically designed to withstand central Mediterranean conditions; IP Cosy defines a system to increase the efficiency and effectiveness in cooling photovoltaic panels; WinMar focuses on the design of a custom-built, multi-bladed small scale wind turbine specifically designed for marine environments and DeSloSH will look at the development of a low cost, internal tank sloshing suppressive infrastructure for storage tanks within fuel-transporting vessels. Seed Fund beneficiary, Borg & Kaupps, aims to develop a gas-sensing technology which can be miniaturised and requires low energy, therefore allowing it to be installed on off-grid smart buoys. This facilitates Port Authorities and Government Agencies to continuously monitor and report the use of sulphur-based fuel emissions in maritime operations.

Mr Joseph Bugeja, Chairman & CEO of Transport Malta, maintained that “It is the policy of the Authority to assist and support innovative and creative individuals to succeed. In this case, we are exploring and focusing our efforts on this dynamic sector, which is undoubtedly a priority area for Malta. Evidently, providing financial assistance at an early stage is of fundamental importance to help individuals transform their creative ideas into concepts leading to commercialization”.

Prof. Alfred J. Vella, University of Malta Rector, noted that “In an age being largely defined by climate change and the increase in efforts relating to environmental protection, it is encouraging to see such a drive towards the development and improvement of renewable energy resources and efforts to monitor and curb hydrocarbon fuel emissions. To know that the University of Malta is playing a part in making this industry more sustainable feels like the fulfilment of a duty to improve society through the knowledge we cultivate.”

Further information on the Maritime Seed Award can be found on https://takeoff.org.mt/seed-funds/.