Creativity, innovation, and infectious commitment on behalf of the environment characterized all 300 students from DTU and other international technical universities that participated in this year's Green Challenge DTU. It was no easy decision, but the panels of judges eventually singled out 24 of 138 projects, which stood out and deserved a prize. The winners focused on very different things such as fuel for the shipping industry, ground water, oil spills, flue gas cleaning, solar energy, seabed clean-up, city bikes, and quicker showers!
Climate change and the resulting problems increasingly present everyday challenges for people all over the world. “Therefore—more than ever before—we need engineers like you who can come up with ideas for solutions and implement them in practice. You are brilliant and the earth is hiring."
This was how the American ambassador to Denmark, Rufus Gifford, opened Green Challenge 2015, quoting, among other things, passages from Paul Hawken's famous speech to the students at the University of Portland in 2009.
This kicked off four hours of vibrant marketplace activities at DTU Library where almost 300 students presented their projects with exciting posters, models, and—not least—charming eloquence. And 22 panels composed of DTU professors and business developers, representatives from 22 major international companies, Danish politicians, and researchers from DTU's international partner universities had the daunting task of listening to the many sales pitches and weighing them up against each other. Is the project well-structured and clearly communicated? How big an impact will it have on the environment? Is it visionary, innovative, and—not least—realizable? Those were the questions that the judges had consider.
Danish competition of international standard
Three groups from DTU's South Korean partner university, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology—chosen from among 20 projects at a similar Green Challenge—also participated, and the Korean Ambassador to Denmark, Young-sam Ma, toured the event to meet and greet his talented fellow countrymen.
Among the participants were also students from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Technische Universität München, and the University of Technology, Darmstadt, Germany, University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta, Canada, Aalto University, Finland, NTNU, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, China, LancasterUniversity, England.
Before the award ceremony, manipulation expert and showman Jan Hellesøe entertained the crowd. Martin Vigild, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Student Affairs, was assisted in awarding diplomas and checks by Laura Storm, CEO of the think tank Sustainia, an organization working to promote sustainable and already realized sustainable solutions throughout the world.
The international Green Challenge ended on a festive note with an outdoor BBQ and a concert by the Danish electronic rock band Dúné.