The microBelt - Non-Turbine Wind Energy Harvesting for Wireless Sensor Networks (Energy Harvesting & Storage Europe 2010)

Jordan McRae is the lead Aerospace Engineer at Humdinger Wind Energy LLC. He received his B.S. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his M.S. from Stanford University, both in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering. Jordan previously worked at Lockheed Martin Space Systems as a Software and Algorithms engineer. His experience as an Aeronautical Engineer has left him with a strong background in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, control systems, mechanics, electronics, and software engineering. This background is currently being used to develop a high fidelity model of the aeroelastic effects on the Windbelt™ to predict optimal power performance. Jordan's experience in developing modular robotic systems is also being leveraged to optimize the performance of the micro Windbelt™ in sensor networks. In addition to his love for wind energy, Jordan also has a particular interest in ocean energy harvesting and underwater robotics. Jordan utilizes these interests in an effort to expand the current boundaries of confluent technologies and explore how intelligent systems can play a role in sustainable development and environmental monitoring.

The Windbelt technology was originally conceived in 2004, during a trip to Petite Anse, Haiti. Haiti provided a cost and resource constrained environment that forced Shawn Frayne, the inventor of the Windbelt, to find a new solution for wind energy harvesting that moved away from the ancient paradigm of rotating turbines. The Windbelt technology utilizes a natural phenomenon known as aeroelastic flutter to generate electricity from an oscillating membrane. From this general concept, Humdinger Wind Energy has developed the microBelt, Windcell, and Windcell Panels. The microBelt is a Wind Energy Harvester developed to power various Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. The microBelt was initially designed to utilize the airflows in a buildings HVAC system and replace the batteries needed to power the HVAC sensors. Additional applications include powering WSNs on high speed trains and airplanes, air quality control, and bridge stress monitoring. Taking wind power into places and applications previously inconceivable, the Windbelt aims to be one of the key tools of energy harvesting in the 21st century. Today, the suite of technologies and intellectual property behind the Windbelt™ is wholly owned by Humdinger Wind Energy, LLC ("Humdinger"). Humdinger, a Hawaii limited liability company with a wholly-owned subsidiary (Humdinger Wind Energy (HK) Limited) in Hong Kong, is primarily a research and development house focused on pushing forward the development of the Windbelt™ technology. Through its growing intellectual property base in the US and abroad, Humdinger manages rights to the Windbelt™ technology.