A noble project for electronics student, do not be ashamed to speak of it!
Getting power from heat energy wether it be mechanical or electrical is more an engineering problem than electronic, but can suggest where and what to look at and read. I also wish you well, a fresh mind may have a new perspective and find something new that older generations have missed or ignored.
Search the web for...
Thermo mechanical generators, these are often used by the aerospace industry to power sattelites, normally they use the heat from the decay of radioactive material but any any heat source will work.
Stirling engines, often overlooked depsite it being proven technology.
As far back as 1928 Georges Claude,inventor of the neon light, built a 20 kilowatt OTS, Ocean Thermal power Supply.It worked for two years in the caribbean.
**broken link removed**
I suspect what could be done in 1928 could be duplicated and improved upon in 2004 and may not just be limited to the oceans of the tropics, even on land , the deeper one goes the hotter it gets. In iceland for example they have a lot of volcanic activity, ground temperatures are high at shallow depths so they boil water and use steam turbines, very conventional. Now perhaps... lets suppose... could a hybrid sytem using water (or crude oil, theres an idea! the boreholes are allready drilled)
to extract the heat from the depths of granite formations in cooler geological areas to boil say ammonia and spin turbines to produce electrical power?
This next bit I have to upset some people...
Despite being non -polluting , the ecological affect/effect [can never remember which] of an ocean thermal power system is an unknown.
In theory the process should stimulate marine life at all levels, some precautions may have to be taken I grant you, but would rather an OTS on my doorstep than an experimental fusion reactor,
[I assume you all know one is going to built soon?]
The other solution , proposed nearly fifty years ago are of course are orbital power stations, huge solar collector/ water-steam or liquid metal boilers with turbines transmitting power down to earth using microwaves. This IS also proven technology, at least on a point to point basis on the earths surface. In theory a wide beam is used to prevent anybody straying into the path of the beam from being cooked alive . but as you can imagine the idea has military applications.