Ocean Exchange Opening Applications for Two Collegiate Awards

Fort Lauderdale, Fla., August 15, 2023 – The Ocean Exchange, a leader in supporting the acceleration of  innovative solutions for healthy oceans and the sustainable blue economy, announces that there will be TWO Collegiate Awards ($10,000 each) in 2023.  

This year, we are happy to announce that there will be two awards: The Ocean Exchange Collegiate Award  for $10,000 and the Guy Harvey Collegiate Award for $10,000. The Collegiate Awards are part of Ocean  Exchange’s annual program that recognizes and helps advance innovation in technologies aimed at the health  of our oceans and the Blue Economy. Awards go to solutions that advance our understanding of the ocean  and help to minimize our impact on these resources.  

As its name implies, the Collegiate Award is presented to a company in its earlier stages of development while  active undergraduate or graduate student. Over the past seven years, seven prior finalists and winners have  been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in their fields. 

“The application process for the Collegiate awards is open through September 25th. The full timeline is  available on our website. We encourage interested parties to subscribe to Navigator, our free newsletter,  for timely updates about this and our other awards and programs,” said Millicent Pitts, Chief Executive Officer  and Executive Director of Ocean Exchange.  

“Our mission is to better understand and conserve the ocean environment,” said Guy Harvey Foundation CEO  Jessica Harvey. “That’s why education is a key focus globally for us. It’s so exciting to see how these bright,  creative, enthusiastic innovators and entrepreneurs are working to solve the world’s environmental  challenges.”  

The winner of the 2022 Collegiate Award was BlueGreen Materials, a company focused on making building  materials, such as carbon-negative bio-concrete, from the ocean. Chief Executive Marcelo Lejeune founded  BlueGreen Materials while studying chemical engineering at Yale University, a relationship that enabled him  to qualify for this prestigious award. 

Previous winners include Twelve, the recipient of Ocean Exchange’s 2015 Collegiate Award—an entry made  by three Stanford students. Today, Twelve is using carbon dioxide, water and renewable energy to create a  wide range of materials and fuels traditionally created using fossil fuels. The company recently entered into  a partnership with Virgin Voyages that will enable it to scale the production of E-Marine™, the newest  sustainable fuel made using its carbon transformation technology. Just last month, Twelve also broke ground  on its commercial-scale E-Jet® fuel production facility in Moses Lake, Washington, making it the first  commercial-scale plant for producing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from CO2 in the United States. 

Another success story is Vita Inclinata® TechnologiesInc., the winner of the 2018 Collegiate Award, presented  to a team from Seattle University. The company creates innovative load stabilization technology for helicopters and cranes, providing safer tools to prevent occupational injuries, initially showcasing at Ocean  Exchange safe at-sea rescues from helicopters. Today, Vita Inclinata Technologies includes Vita Aerospace™ and Vita Industrial™. It is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado with additional offices in the United  Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Washington, DC, and Silicon Valley, California.  

About Ocean Exchange  

Ocean Exchange is a global ecosystem whose mission is to accelerate the adoption of innovative solutions for  healthy oceans and the sustainable blue economy. A 501(c)(3), Ocean Exchange fulfills this mission through  a rigorous, multi-level program that includes annual monetary awards, promoting registered Solutions  Inspiring Action across multiple communication channels, and facilitating access to the global network  comprising its Board of Directors, Delegates, Solutions Review Team, Executive Team and other experts from  around the world. Ocean Exchange’s mission is funded by private donations including those from Wallenius 

Wilhelmsen, Royal Caribbean, Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, Oceankind, Marine Research Hub of  South Florida, Oceaneering, Angus Littlejohn, Jr. Family, and others who share the passion for healthy oceans.  To learn more, visit Oceanexchange.org. 

About Guy Harvey Foundation (GHF) 

With a focused mission to better understand and conserve the ocean environment, the Guy Harvey  Foundation (GHF) collaborates with local, national and international organizations to conduct scientific  research and provides funding to affiliated researchers who share this objective. The GHF also develops and  hosts cutting-edge educational programs that help educators to foster the next era of marine  conservationists, ensuring that future generations can enjoy and benefit from a properly balanced ocean  ecosystem. For more information, visit www.GuyHarveyFoundation.org. Follow the GHF on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOcean, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GuyHarveyOcean, or connect on  Instagram at www.instagram.com/GuyHarveyOcean. 

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Media Contact:  

Susan Zellers 

Ocean Exchange Program Director 

267-844-2269