Mapúa University student Carvey Ehren Maigue has been officially shortlisted in the James Dyson Award for his invention that converts ultraviolet (UV) light to sustainable energy.

The student innovator entered the Global Top 20 final stage of the competition that recognizes young design engineers from around the world with his Aurora Renewable Energy & UV Sequestration (AuREUS) system, an innovation for walls and windows using technology synthesized from upcycled crop waste to absorb stray UV light from sunlight in order to convert it to solar electricity.

Maigue’s invention campaigns for better access to solar energy and supports the local agriculture industry hit by calamities by upcycling crops that would otherwise be considered wastes and thus, reducing farmer loss. The possibility of using local fruits and vegetable dyes as key particles for enabling the technology has been the study’s focus and 78 types of local crops were tested with 9 showing high potential.

Additionally, “Aureus allows for the creation of vertical solar farms in urban areas since the device doesn’t need a direct exposure to the sun to catch UV light,” Maigue said.

The fifth-year electrical engineering student’s idea came from wanting to capture UV light to better the solar technology industry while also contributing to a cleaner environment. Luminescent particles (from selected fruits and vegetables) are suspended in a resin substrate and are used as the core technology for AuREUS devices (Borealis Solar Window and Astralis Solar Wall) which also use the same technology derived from the beautiful Aurora Borealis or Northern lights.

The international James Dyson Award is a design competition that runs in 27 countries and encourages young people to “design something that solves a problem”. Aureus was among the runners-up in the national category for the award and will compete alongside two other entries from the Philippines which include the University of the Philippines’ multi-functional workstation BoxOffice and reBIRTH, a women-centered birthing tool.

The sustainability winner for the prestigious award and up to two runners-up in the international category will be hand-picked by British inventor James Dyson himself on November 19, 2020.

Filipino James Dyson awardee Maria Yzabell Angel Palma invented an air conditioner that runs without ozone-depleting refrigerant while another solar energy-focused campaign called Light it Forward received the Asia Pacific Social Innovation and Partnership Award (APSIPA) for their selfless mission to bring sustainable electricity to deprived villages.