We are developing a Rotary Engine that will make current piston-based engines obsolete. Our engine is highly scalable — from a fraction of a liter displacement up to 20-liter engines.
The Engine Revolved
Company name: Rotary Wing Engine, San Jose, California
Region: Western
www.rotarywingengine.com
Elevator pitch
The Rotary Wing Engine is an ultra-compact and lightweight engine for use in any car, motorcycle or truck. The engine is super efficient and also reduces green house gas emissions. Normal engines start with a reciprocating up and down motion that is then converted to rotational motion, whereas our engine starts out as a rotating engine from the beginning which makes it lighter, smaller and more efficient. This engine leverages the existing four-cycle engine that has proven itself for over 100 years but elegantly reconfigures the four strokes into a circular configuration.
How it changes the world
Our engine drastically reduces vehicle pollution and reduces fuel consumption. In fact, if our technology was widely adopted across all vehicles, we would literally eliminate the import of fossil fuels. Customers will benefit from lower costs, reduced fuel expenditure, and from less polluting vehicles.
If you win?
Winning the Cleantech Open would drastically change the trajectory of Rotary Wing Engine Inc. It can take startups years before the company gains credibility and adoption of its innovative technology. Winning would accord us credibility and allow us to accelerate the adoption of our technology. This will also accelerate the environmental and economic benefits that our technology enables.
Memorable Cleantech Open moment?
Participating in the Cleantech Open is an amazing networking opportunity. During the Cleantech Academy, I met Stanford Professor Tom Kosnik who introduced me to Stanford Engineering Professor David Beach who, in turn, was able to provide invaluable technical input to our startup. Normally this kind of input would be extremely difficult to secure. Professor Kosnik also invited me to pitch his International entrepreneur class, and before you know, I picked up six international student volunteers who were calling and validating the pain points and validating desire for our solution in six distinct international markets, including Korea, Italy and Mexico. I was pleasantly surprised by the compounding benefits of the networking possibilities enabled by the superb talent that help make the Cleantech Open the premier startup competition.