Tech Tuesday: Fuel Efficiencies and Solar Powered ATMs

This week's our Tech Pioneers are tackling fuel efficiencies in cars and solar powered ATMs. They are both helping us get the things we need, whether is getting to those important destinations or having access to financial instutions, our Tech Pioneer community is ready with some innovative solutions.

Tech Tuesday is an on-going series profiling the Forum’s Technology Pioneers. The Tech Pioneers are companies that have been recognized by the Forum for ground-breaking and innovative approaches in tackling some of the world’s most wicked problems. Each week leading up to the Annual Meeting in Davos, we will be showcasing some of the 2011 Tech Pioneers. You can learn more about the Technology Pioneer Program on the Forum's website.

1.    Energy and Environment: Improving Fuel Economies

The Wicked Problem:

Internal combustion engines are likely to remain in passenger vehicles for decades. In addition, the net efficiency of current modern gasoline engines average only 15% fuel efficiency.

The Tech Pioneer: Transonic Combusion Inc.

Location: Camarillo, CA, USA
Number of employees: 45
Year Founded: 2006
Origins: Entrepreneurial start-up

The Wicked Solution: 

Transonic Combustion makes a fuel injection system that offers automotive manufacturers a near-term, costeffective solution to vastly improve fuel economy of new cars and trucks, and help meet stringent emissions regulations.

Unlike standard fuel injectors, the TSCi injector that the team has developed pressurizes and heats gasoline until it gets to a “supercritical” state that is part-way between liquid and gas. When the substance enters the combustion chamber it combusts without a spark and mixes with air quickly, using less fuel and burning more efficiently than standard injectors. The injector is designed to integrate easily in conventional cars and is expected to cost consumers less than the gear needed to turn a vehicle into a hybrid. In addition to gasoline, it is expected to eventually run on ethanol and biodiesel.

Once vehicles are equipped with Transonic’s technology, the technology could dramatically
reduce fuel consumption and reliance on fossil fuels, cut greenhouse gas emissions and ease the transition to renewable liquid fuels, without requiring major changes to the current automobile industry infrastructure.

2.    Information Technologies and New Media: Solar Powered ATMs.

The Wicked Problem: 

A large part of the world remains unbanked. One of the main challenges of distribution is the harsh rural environment which involves weather conditions that make it difficult for machines to operate.

The Tech Pioneer: Vortex Engineering

Location: Chennai, India
Number of employees: 80
Year Founded: 2001
Origins: Entrepreneurial start-up

The Wicked Solution:

Vortex Engineering develops automatic teller machines for rural environments, adapting them to run on lower amounts of power and to dispense soiled banknotes.

At the core of the ATM is a new type of cash dispensing mechanism. Conventional ATMs have the currency cassettes at the bottom of the machines and the notes have to be brought up to the presenting area, working against gravity. Vortex’s machines employ a patentpending, gravity-assisted friction pick technology. Currency notes are stored at the top of the machine and picked with the help of gravity, reducing cash jams and significantly lowering power consumption.

Vortex’s ATMs can run on solar power and use less than 100 watts of power, one-tenth of that used by normal machines. What’s more, in hot climates such as India, present machines need air conditioning units to cool them. Vortex’s technology reduces power consumption, does away with the need for cooling and offers an uninterruptible power supply; total cost of ownership is 25% that of conventional ATMs.

Vortex has an order from the State Bank of India for 545 ATMs, 300 of them powered by solar energy.
It is already selling its ATMs in Dubai and Pakistan and plans to expand across the developing world.

Know an innovative start-up that’s solving a wicked problem? Nominate them.