A student set to join the Master's programme for cleantech innovation is leading the startup named UK winner of the 2025 James Dyson Award.
Kinowave, a startup working on a free-floating wave energy system that also protects against coastal erosion, has been named the UK winner of the 2025 James Dyson Awards. The competition rewards designers who think differently, to create products that work better.
The technology was conceived in Tamil Nadu, India, but will take its next steps at Imperial, where company co-founder and chief executive Janarthanan Venkatachalam is set to join the Master's degree in cleantech innovation this October.
"This award is a testament to the company's potential to reimagine ocean energy as a practical and accessible climate solution, and we are thrilled to welcome Jana as one of our students," said Dr Elena Dieckmann, co-director of the Master's programme and academic co-director for Imperial Global India.
The cleantech innovation programme is delivered by the Dyson School of Design Engineering, the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment and the Undaunted incubator. Mr Venkatachalam is joining the programme on a Chevening Scholarship, a government-funded scheme that enables outstanding emerging leaders from all over the world to pursue one-year Master's degrees in the UK.
More than electricity
Most wave energy technologies are focused on generating electricity, and ignore the fact that taking energy out of the ocean also tends to calm the waves. The founders of Kinowave saw potential in this secondary effect, and set out to design a wave energy system that could be placed along vulnerable coastlines or close to low-lying islands, protecting them from erosion at the same time as providing much-needed electricity.
Most conventional wave energy converters require permanent structures or mooring to the seabed, which is both complicated to do and costly. Free-floating systems exist, but their complex energy extraction systems again tend to be expensive, while delivering only limited efficiency.
Kinowave's solution is a novel system of interconnected fluid-filled cylinders that captures the natural gradient of ocean waves, without the need for an anchor. Testing has shown 60% efficiency in converting the movement of the water into electricity, significantly higher than the 45% typical with other systems. At the same time, the system is modular and should be simple to deploy, making it suitable for locations with limited means.
The system has also been found to significantly reduce the force of waves, allowing only 40% of the wave's energy to continue toward the coast. This reduction will dampen erosive impacts while decreasing seabed shaking, which in turn will mitigate coastal erosion, making the system both a wave energy converter and a coastal protection solution that enhances sustainability and climate resilience.
Validating the system
Kinowave's next steps are to further refine its technology and to validate the system. This will involve building a 100 Watt prototype, which can be scaled up to 10 kW within two years. "For pilot testing, we are planning to collaborate with several island nations to deploy our wave energy pilot in real ocean conditions to test its performance, coastal protection benefits and community impact, particularly in mitigating coastal erosion," Mr Venkatachalam says.
The national James Dyson Award comes with a prize of £5,000 and the chance to compete for the international and sustainability awards, both worth £30,000. The winners will be announced on 5 November.
Pictures courtesy of Kinowave
