Make IT! 2022: for the talent of the future

Once again this summer, at Innova-tsn we did not want to miss the opportunity to participate in the Make IT! Technology Campus, supporting and betting on the future and talent. Over the course of two weeks, young people aged between 10 and 17 learned, innovated and used all their ingenuity and creativity to solve current problems through technology. 

The objective, as with every edition of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM, Polytechnic University of Madrid), is to bring students closer to the world of Computer Engineering. To this end, young people not only learn technical content and how to apply it but also how to work in teams with real and interesting cases. The Campus, which takes place at the UPM’s School of Computer Engineering, focused on five themes that allowed students to learn and delve into the fundamentals of robotics and IoT (Internet of Things), 3D design and printing, multimedia programming using Processing, mobile application design and augmented reality. 

This year, the organisation proposed to Innova-tsn to pose for the first time a challenge in the form of a real and topical case study: To find an improvement in the energy consumption of a Data Processing Centre (DPC). In this way, it reduces its energy expenditure, optimises its electricity consumption or looks for alternative ways of achieving the same objectives. To achieve this, the young people had to design a solution by applying some of the knowledge they learned during their week at MakeIT! 

Innova-tsn Make It 2022 Talento
Innova-tsn Make It 2022 Clase

Week 1

27th June – 1st July

This group proposed a prototype based on Arduino, consisting of a temperature sensor that detected the temperature of the DPC and activated the cooling when necessary. All of this was recorded and displayed on an LCD screen so that the temperature could be known at all times. The students used 3D Design to recreate the server room. 

Thanks to this model it would be possible to save energy, as the detection of temperature changes in the room would avoid energy wastage and therefore economic losses. 

This project was based on a CPD with sustainable energy. They used a 3D Design made in Blender, together with an application to control the temperature and cooling of the room. Finally, the second group used the Arduino platform for the operation of the sensors in the different rooms to control the temperature, using an LCD screen to record the collected data. 

In this way, energy savings would be possible, as the integration of different elements for temperature control makes it possible to detect energy losses. 

The third team’s project focused on a system that indicates the consumption of the DPC by means of LED lights (Arduino) and a fingerprint entry system that cuts the air conditioning while the doors are kept open. For this, they applied 3D Design for the elaboration of the DPC system to detect the entrance or exit of the workers to the DPC room. 

In conclusion, thanks to this model it would be possible to reduce energy consumption, as the detection of DPC staff entering or leaving the room can regulate the cooling, thus optimising the expenditure. 

The fourth group focused on changing the materials of the DPC. Using 3D Design for its recreation, as well as changing the cooling of the DPC to water instead of air, also using 3D Design for its composition. 

The result was an optimisation of electricity usage, as the resulting change and restructuring of the cooling system was efficient and optimised for process improvement, saving energy and, above all, costs. 

Week 2

1st July – 8th July

The first group of the second week looked at the use of hot air pipes from the server to heat water and steam going to turbines to generate electricity. For this, they used 3D Design and Mobile App. 

With this project, an efficient process would be possible, as a sustainable energy cycle was established, with which the energy expenditure would be lower than at present. All this would lead to lower costs in the DPC. 

Group 2 focused their model on restructuring the CPD into a circular shape, thus improving the thermoelectric generator. For this model, they used Arduino and 3D Design. 

With this redesign of the DPC room, they also reduced energy use, as they would use the energy produced by the servers themselves to power the existing cooling in the server room, saving costs and improving its operation. 

The third group proposed the use of distilled water to generate a continuous circuit through 3D Design, Arduino and Python. Thanks to the use of temperature sensors, thermal energy will be transformed into electricity.  

In this way, they made it possible to save energy, as the continuous use of water enables an ecological circuit with little need for external energy, facilitating savings and improving the CPD. 

This group proposed to use thermal energy for its transformation and use electrical energy by means of Arduino, 3D Design and Apps.

In conclusion, thanks to this group’s proposal it would also be possible to save energy, as the combination of the different elements built into the project, and the reuse of thermal energy will make the DPC a sustainable system both energetically and economically. 

The group’s idea was to use thermal energy to heat water to drive turbines. In addition, thermal sensors would be added to the engine room and turbines, measuring the energy generated for use in the DPC. For this project, they used solar panels, 3D design and Arduino. 

In their proposal, the use of different ways of power generation facilitated the entire performance of the DPC, while increasing its durability. 

Their proposal was to generate a cooling system through water pressure changes. 

To do this, they proposed a hydraulic ram pump based on the Alhambra, using 3D design and Arduino.

In this way, they generated a sustainable mechanism, with little need for external energy and to a certain extent, autonomous, so its viability would increase. 

Innova-tsn Make It 2022 Ordenadores
Innova-tsn Make It 2022 Programación
Innova-tsn Make It 2022 Jóvenes

Without a doubt, they all did a fantastic job, not only full of talent and imagination but also technologically complete, innovative and well cared for. From here, we congratulate all of them once again and convey the message that we wanted to get across to them during those days: in each of you there is enormous potential. Let’s keep working on it! “

Finally, we would like to thank the Make IT! “family” once again. Thank you for counting on us for another year and, above all, thank you for letting us be an active part of your commitment to all the young people who are the future – and even, we dare say, the present – of our technological future.