Collaborate and listen: Energy challenge powers up skills

Six students across Business and Engineering have taken on the Siemens Energy Student Challenge and are working together on a real energy problem – in today’s blog, they outline their approach and the benefits of cross-faculty collaboration.

We applied to the Siemens Energy Student Challenge because it offered the chance to work on a real problem connected to the energy transition, rather than a purely academic exercise.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Joining this Challenge has helped us realise the significance and worth of brainstorming, the way ideas can emerge, and the importance of valuing everyone and their time. Since we are a diverse team coming from different backgrounds, each one provides a unique input not only in the academic, but the cultural aspect. Moreover, the approach to tackle any challenge is different for each member, which contributes to a richer discussion and problem-solving exercise. An essential factor for any team's success is communication, and effective communication is the foundation of our team.

The Project

From an Engineering perspective, our battery passport concept focuses on improving transparency around battery lifecycle data, including performance, degradation and end of life considerations. This matters for the energy transition because large scale battery deployment is increasing rapidly, and better data is essential for sustainability, reuse, recycling and informed investment decisions.

From an Economics perspective, we focused on incentives, scalability and long-term sustainability, examining how battery passport regulation and energy management system (EMS) data can improve market transparency and decision-making across the battery lifecycle. Embedding these data systems into regulatory frameworks can support long-term sustainability by aligning private incentives with broader environmental objectives, while also improving confidence in large-scale battery deployment and supporting the energy transition.

Skills and Development

Working on this challenge together has helped us in many ways, especially with soft skills. For example, our presentation skills have improved as we are constantly presenting to a panel of five Siemens Energy experts and the other participant groups. Our ability to work well in a team has also benefited from working on this challenge – we're working not just with peers from the same background as each other but with peers from different areas of study and experience.

As part of the Challenge, we have to present regularly to Siemens Energy and doing this has really helped us all with our ability to communicate effectively and comfortably with senior management.

And naturally our time management skills have improved – as well as working on the Challenge, we have had our university work to complete at the same time as well as everything else that goes on in normal day to day life so we’ve really had to put great effort in to ensure everything is being covered to the best of our abilities and in a timely manner which will stand us all in good stead in our future careers.

Gaining insights

Engaging with Siemens Energy experts has provided insights into how technical ideas are evaluated in industry and how system level thinking translates into real projects.

Engaging with the Siemens officials has led us to realise the importance of real-world experience that often involves aspects that cannot be fully developed through academia alone, and doing this Challenge has really given us useful insights.

Looking Ahead

For some of us, this experience has reinforced the interest in working on energy systems where engineering, economics and sustainability intersect. It has helped us to visualise how our technical background can be applied in industry settings and will be valuable as we keep moving toward a career in the energy sector. The current research project is groundbreaking, and its completion could pave the way for advancements in battery technologies, leading to more widespread battery usage.

The experience has also reinforced how effective communication and respect for diverse viewpoints are essential to successful problem-solving in applied, industry-focused projects.

This blog has been collaboratively written by the six participating students: from Engineering - Ghadeer Al-Bahhash, Saoirse Fletcher Dunne, Alan Rajesh Thali, Santiago Cubillos; from Economics - Molly Seeley and Anderson Black.