CEO of SINN Power discusses his inspiration to generate electricity from ocean waves
Philipp Sinn, CEO and founder of start-up SINN Power looks at the inspiration behind his wave power company:
“At SINN Power, we develop a high-tech solution that generates renewable electricity from the power of waves. Our technology is among the globally leading approaches, and our chances of entering the market are extremely promising.”
“I was born into a family of academics in Mannheim, Germany. But I didn’t stay there for long, as my parents moved with me to Canada at first and later moved to Gauting near Munich. I have lived there ever since then. And so I really do feel like a genuine Bavarian.”
“At first, I studied Industrial Engineering at King’s College in London and then Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich. Subsequently, I worked for eight years in the P3 engineering company as a consultant. Afterwards I did my doctorate externally and founded the company SINN Power based on the concept I developed in my thesis.”
“It was a new and innovative idea to convert ocean waves into electricity. I had already submitted several patents before the doctorate. Today at SINN Power we actually implement the concept developed in the dissertation—the basic idea that existed at the time hardly changed since then.”
“My studies of regenerative energies at the Technical University of Munich of course sharpened my view on this topic. During this time, I thought at first that I had had a revolutionary idea: that I could also use ocean waves to generate electricity.
“During my research, I quickly learned that my flash of inspiration wasn’t as unique as I had thought at first: The first approaches to using wave power were already developed in the 18th century! But that didn’t stop me, and I started looking at the existing approaches and compared them technically. The experience that I had gained as a consultant in the automotive industry brought me a huge benefit.
“After that, I tried to weigh up the pros and cons of different solutions to build an optimum. For our wave power plant today, it means that we build a modular, floating system which is easy to transport, mass-producible and very easy to maintain.”
