Inside the programme where climate solutions become startups that scale
At Imperial, students don’t just study climate challenges – they meet co-founders, pressure-test ideas, and find routes into industry and investment that can change the direction of their careers.
Janarthanan Venkatachalam has always wanted to find out how things work. Physics and engineering are not subjects he learnt from textbooks, but tools to build things. “I strive to do things with my hands, to fabricate, build and see things working,” he says. “That’s why I studied Mechanical Engineering– so I could start to fabricate things.”
As an undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering at the Kumaraguru College of Technology in Coimbatore, Jana focused his instinct to build and experiment on one of India’s biggest problems: how to transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy. “As a peninsular country, India has huge potential for wave energy. The technology is over a century old, yet large-scale implementation remains elusive,” he explains. “A friend and I started looking into why.”
In 2020, towards the end of his Bachelor’s degree, Jana and his colleague Brathikan Vijayamohan Mankayarkarasi co-founded Kinowave, a free-floating wave energy system that also protects against coastal erosion. What followed was a bumpy road with a steep learning curve. “As an undergrad, I knew very little about energy systems. The Kinowave journey has been a crash course in the realities of cost, infrastructure, and implementation of renewable energy.”
In 2025, the company was named the UK winner of the James Dyson Awards. Yet, despite having a promising solution, scaling has been difficult. “We had a solution to support coastal communities but, in India, we struggled to get investment and there seemed to be no way to scale up,” Jana explains. “I want to understand how to scale and implement these solutions, which is one of the reasons I applied to the MSc Cleantech Innovation.”
A launchpad for scalable solutions
The MSc Cleantech Innovation, jointly delivered by the Grantham Institute and the Dyson School of Design Engineering, is a unique programme specially designed to launch companies with climate solutions.
“Nothing like this exists anywhere else,” says Dr Reshma Rao, co-lead of the Climate Change for Cleantech Innovators module. “The course connects curious minds with world-leading scientists and research facilities; it provides industry contacts, exposure to investors, and access to Imperial’s entrepreneurial network.”
Last year, Imperial was named Outstanding Entrepreneurial University of 2025 at the Times Higher Education Awards. Central to this achievement are hubs like Imperial Enterprise Lab, Advanced Hackspace, Imperial Incubator and the Grantham Institute’s Undaunted.
Across all industries, the survival rate of new startups is 10%. For startups graduating from Undaunted, the survival rate is 88% – a strong motivating factor for many students on the MSc.
Jana joined the course last year on a Chevening Scholarship and Kinowave has continued to evolve – supported by Imperial’s wave energy tanks and technical expertise. Equally transformative for Jana has been a shift in mindset. “The Grantham Institute has taught me to first identify a problem, and develop a solution that is sustainable,” he says. “Cleantech is all about solving humans’ problems in a sustainable way.”
Learning to pivot has also been key. “When we struggled to get investment for Kinowave, we pivoted and began developing advanced energy storage solutions and, subsequently, efficient thermal technologies. I was worried we were doing everything wrong, but this course has taught me that this is the right way to evolve. Pivot fast, prototype fast and never stop learning.”
A safe space to take risks
The ability to experiment, fail and iterate sits at the heart of the MSc’s design. “This course is exciting because it’s so dynamic. When we started developing it, we had a blank canvas, so we were able to shape it and take advantage of the unique entrepreneurial environment at Imperial,” says Dr Rao. “The world of startups is fast-paced and challenging, but Imperial is a safe space, slightly protected from the cut-throat reality of the corporate world.”
Students begin the programme at different stages of their journey. Some already have an idea, fledgling startup or years of industry experience; others are simply curious about climate innovation. For Ulah Hasan, who has a BA in Fashion from Arizona State University, the course has re-shaped her whole design process. “The very first project we were assigned was to design a hat that could address a climate issue. This really challenged my way of thinking. I had to prioritize functionality over aesthetics. It made me question my process – every decision had to have a purpose”.
Ulah is now working on her final project, which is focused on reusing heat from data centres in industrial processes. “It’s very different to what I’m used to, but I joined this programme to be truly interdisciplinary and try new things. I’m surprising myself as to how open I am!”
A student may not have a technical background in a particular field, “but they are encouraged to identify a problem and assemble the team that can solve it,” says Dr Rao.
Turning research into reality
Practical application of science is woven through the programme. “From day one, students are thinking creatively and applying information practically,” says Dr Rao. Access to Imperial’s facilities and experts makes this possible. Students receive technical support, prototyping guidance and business mentoring, enabling them to test ideas quickly and realistically.
“At Imperial, students have access to world-class researchers and laboratories,” says Dr Oisin Shaw, pointing to facilities like the Advanced Hackspace. “In one building, you have access to high precision electrical and mechanical engineering workshops, digital modelling and fabrication spaces, and biological wet labs. It allows you to build, test and iterate multiple times in a single day.”
For Dr Shaw, one of the most distinctive elements of the MSc is its focus on adapting research outputs into usable technologies.
“There’s a big focus on taking research and applying it to create useful products,” he says. “Our students are hugely ambitious in what they test. They will replicate research work and integrate it into a new product, all on a shoestring budget and in small teams.”
The constraint is intentional. In having to abandon the control and rigour of a research lab, and work through the noise and unpredictability of the real world – all on on a tight budget, students develop solutions that are more robust and more likely to be adopted. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” adds Dr Shaw.
Diversity as a driver of innovation
Diversity is a core foundation of the programme. “We have engineers, economists, architects, designers and more – all interested in sustainability and making a difference,” says Dr Rao. “Doing the same thing over and over won’t work. We need creative solutions from different disciplines to challenge the status quo.”
For alum Mara Köhne, who graduated in 2025, the diversity of the cohort was transformative. “The course brought together the most diverse group of people that I’ve seen in an academic context,” she says. “There was a mix of academic backgrounds, ethnicities, life stages and geographies; some had already started companies and been in entrepreneurship for over 30 years, others were straight from university.”
While on the MSc, Mara and fellow student Hal Good co-founded ISONIK, a startup that aims to prevent ice build-up on the blades of wind turbines – something that is an issue for 65% of the world’s wind farms and decreases annual energy generation by up to 20%. ISONIK’s unique ice-prevention technology enables wind power to work reliably when it's needed most during peak winter months, potentially unlocking new geographies with higher wind potential that were previously inaccessible due to icing.
“When developing ISONIK, our project team comprised people from Germany, Hong Kong and China, which helped us develop a product that could work in a lot of geographies and different cultural contexts. The Grantham Institute also connected us with key players in the industry like Scottish Power, so we had the benefit of industry insights.”
Mara presenting during ClimateLaunchpad
Mara presenting during ClimateLaunchpad
Building confidence, connections and momentum
Through the Grantham Institute and Undaunted, students are introduced to industry partners, accelerators and investors, ensuring momentum continues beyond graduation.
“The entrepreneurial network at Imperial gave us the confidence to take the leap and start ISONIK,” says Mara. “We had access to world-leading experts and prototyping facilities within the Imperial community; were connected with leading figures in industry; and coached onto programmes like ClimateLaunchpad and The Greenhouse, which have given us vital funding and guidance for navigating the entrepreneurship process. "
After winning the 2025 UK final of Climate Launchpad, the world’s largest green business ideas competition, ISONIK progressed onto Undaunted’s Greenhouse accelerator. This 12-month programme supports talented early-stage start-ups developing cleantech solutions to tackle climate change.
Going beyond the classroom
More than a master’s programme, the MSc Cleantech Innovation provides access to a wider entrepreneurial network, where students and alumni are encouraged to stay connected and share learning as they navigate the climate innovation landscape.
“Students come into the classroom with lots of crazy ideas and a free spirit, and those conversations coalesce into something that could define the rest of their career,” says Dr Rao. “We give them the tools, resources and knowledge of life-cycle analysis and cleantech innovation to start on their journey. They graduate from the MSc with a solid foundation to move forwards.”
For prospective students, the message is clear: this is a course where curiosity is welcomed, bold experimentation is encouraged, and people are empowered to find scalable solutions to climate challenges. “We all have the power to drive change and shift the narrative,” says Ulah. “If you have the passion to make an impact but aren’t sure how, this course is the best place to start.”
Explore the MSc Cleantech Innovation, connect with the Grantham Institute and Undaunted, and join a community working to power climate futures.
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