A team of University of Texas (UT) engineering students whose idea to harness the sun’s rays to power the UFCU Disch-Falk Field — home of Texas baseball — was recently named the grand prize winner of the BASF Team Chemistry Challenge.

The annual challenge, sponsored by BASF, encourages students to develop solutions to make UT sports events more sustainable. A total of $25,000 was awarded to the top three teams or individuals who submit winning proposals.

“The Team Chemistry Challenge proves that students are passionate about environmental issues and can develop innovative and practical solutions,” said Tom Yura, Senior Vice President and Manager of the BASF site in Geismar, Louisiana, and executive sponsor of BASF’s UT School Recruiting Team. “Students also learn about BASF’s efforts to create chemistry for a sustainable future and how they can prepare for careers in our industry.”

The Team Chemistry Challenge requires teams to submit detailed proposals describing strategies to lessen the environmental impact of a UT sporting event while incorporating at least one BASF material. BASF made its portfolio of sustainable products available for use and also assigned a mentor to each team to provide guidance.

In the final phase of the competition, the top five teams pitched their solutions to a panel of Texas Athletics representatives and BASF sustainability experts.

The winning team, named “Array of Sunshine,” includes students from the Cockrell School of Engineering at UT Austin. They proposed to install solar panels at UFCU Disch-Falk Field along with several large industrial-sized fans, with future expansion possibilities for the Frank Erwin Center, UT’s basketball arena. Team members were chemical engineering majors Kush Muzumdar, Teresa Wu and Bradley McCoy; and petroleum engineering major Taylor Lopez-Huebner.

“The BASF Team Chemistry Challenge not only allowed us to directly apply the technical skills we’ve acquired at UT, but it also encouraged us to be creative,” said Muzumdar. “This competition opened our eyes to all the work UT Athletics and BASF are doing to develop a sustainable future.”

“We were ecstatic to hear that BASF and Texas Athletics were partnering again to make athletic events more sustainable,” said Wu. “Through this challenge, we were able to learn about the wide variety of ways that we can contribute toward a greener future for our university.”

The second-place team, “Sustadiumbility,” proposed using compostable food containers made from ecovio® — a high-quality and versatile bioplastic developed by BASF — during sports events. Team members were chemical engineering majors Rajalakshmi Ranganathan, Bobi Simonsen, Shezaz Hanan, Ben Rosselet, Annie Liu and Maria Nieto.

The third-place team, “Green Zone,” outlined a plan to install solar power posts for tailgaters to eliminate portable generators. Team members were mechanical engineering majors Nicholas Phillips, Alex Colella, Andrew Midura and Ben Bylenok; and energy and earth resources major Tess Haegele.

“It is always inspiring to hear creative ideas presented by groups of intelligent and thoughtful UT students during the BASF Team Chemistry Challenge,” said Merrick MyCue, Texas Athletics Assistant Athletics Director for Events, Operations & Specialty Events. “Texas Athletics is proud to be a part of this distinctive program that brings together athletics, an industry partner and UT students to work toward solutions to everyday problems.”