Week 2 Our Project Status

Since last week, we have created, distributed and begun to compile data from a survey to help define our market and potential users. We have also begun to define our market and believe that it will involve frequent users of mobile devices, such as e-readers, tablets, smart phones, or mp3 players, between the age of 13-60, who regular have an active schedule and day.

We have also met with a specialist who has experience in the field of renewable energy and smart materials. This gave us great insight as to what potential ways have been and are being sued to solve current energy needs. One example we learned about was the use of memory shape alloys that are able to convert the compression of one's shoe and generate power from it over time.

We have also begun to research the potential competition that exists in the field of portable energy solutions. We have found that many companies have designed products that allow you to charge a battery that can be taken with you to later use to charge virtually any device that uses a sub to charge it. We also found that some products have been made to convert the kinetic energy fro ma bike into enough power to charge one's phone.  However, in general there does not seam to be a product that allows a typical user to walk around and charge their device without having previously charged another device or used solar panels..

We are now currently preparing for our first GR presentation and are continuing to develop a problem statement. We are also researching what possible patents exist in the field of portable energy.