Students from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), in Lisbon, joined together on a true “trip”: around 45 students are creating a boat powered by solar energy, hydrogen and with autonomous capacity, the São Gabriel 01 (SG01), and another 60 presented a hydrogen-powered car, the TFC02, at the Web Summit.
“Initially, Técnico Solar Boat only made boats or boats, but since six years ago we have branched out into autonomous boats and hydrogen-powered boats. We have seven prototypes, three solar, two hydrogen-powered and one autonomous. At the moment, we are working on the São Gabriel 01, which will be our largest and most challenging vessel, not only autonomous, but also solar and hydrogen-powered”, he explained to Expresso Francisco Barroso, who is part of the team.
The boat is eight by 2.5 meters in size, has the highest power built by students nationwide and “is a vessel that carries three people”. “It’s already something you can look at and think: ‘Yes, I saw a family there, on a weekend, taking a walk”, says Francisco, who doesn’t hide his pride in having “such a big and ambitious vessel”.
As for the hydrogen-powered car, the team of students who created it, Técnico Fuel Cell, is the first in Portugal to develop hydrogen-powered city vehicles and compete internationally. “It is a great honor to represent our country. At this moment, the European competition [Shell Eco-marathon] It’s in Poland and having, at the moment, the only hydrogen car in Portugal is a huge burden. We want to continue innovating, but we also want other faculties to make hydrogen cars and, if they need help, we can help and learn more and more”, Afonso Cruz, team leader of the project, revealed to Expresso.