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Schneider Electric’s global student competition: Schneider Go Green
We are the 2019 Schneider Go Green finalists from China, and we are here to share our story throughout the global student competition and experience during the 2019 edition. We hope that our experiences encourage you to register for the 2020 edition. It was the experience of a lifetime and we hope that many of you can participate as well!
Innovation Summit Barcelona- Go Green finals
“I bet on a bottle of beer, you’ll love Barcelona when you leave!” On my first night in Spain, the enthusiastic taxi driver shouted to me with a smile when he dropped me off at the hotel.
The next day, the organizers arranged a tour of Barcelona for us students, and we went to La Sagrada Familia Cathedral. We not only entered the church to enjoy the spectacular architectural design but also went to the data center in the church to record and analyze the data of tourists. We saw many Schneider products for this solution, while the professional staff explained them to us.
In the afternoon, the Schneider Go Green organizers arranged for us to have a self-driving tour in the city. We drove the GoCar in Barcelona and visited the big and small streets with a lot of fun and adventurous memories. We passed the port, church, and square, and I thought Barcelona was super beautiful.
What was worth mentioning, in particular, is Spanish cuisine. In just four days here, we tasted different styles of Spanish food including fresh seafood, crisp tapas with rich sauces, all kinds of bacon, ham, well-roasted steak and so on. We chatted and enjoyed delicious food together, and everyone had a good time.
——Xingyi (Kirsi) FAN
This project was originally a group assignment in the course of environmental science and technology in the spring semester of 2019, and then we noticed Schneider Go Green, the competition held by Schneider Electric. We found that many ideas in our project were consistent with the ideas advocated by the competition, and the technology used can also be realized by using EcoXtructure promoted by Schneider Electric. Therefore, we improved it and made a proposal for the competition.
After two rounds of screening, our bold idea was selected into the top 10. We also had two mentors, Kenneth YUEN, Head of Key Account & Building Solution and Jasmine LEE, Senior Sales Engineer and past Go Green global champion from 2014 from Schneider Hong Kong. We were invited to Schneider’s office in Hong Kong to present our project.
Presentations in Hong Kong
We thought that only Kenneth and Jasmine would listen to our presentation. After all, they were our mentors. However, what I didn’t expect was that Kenneth invited the whole team of technical experts, including experts in technology, colleagues in charge of finance, economics, and product sales. In total, there were 8 people that had an hour to spare to come to our exhibition and give us suggestions. At that time, I felt very moved and I also felt that I could not live up to the expectations of the whole team.
After receiving professional advice from Schneider’s experts, we made great changes to the analysis of technical feasibility in the scheme and added animation demonstration and explanation of the principle. In addition, Kenneth also shared many “personal advice” with us, from the experience of speech over the years, to the onstage stand, posture, speed of speech on the stage, and the emphasis on value in the speech, all of which help us to have a good performance on our later stage speech. At the same time, Jasmine gave us some details that the jury valued from the perspective of a participant, such as the presentation of data sources and the distribution of contents on PPT, etc.
Greater China finals
At the Go Green Greater China Finals, held at Schneider China headquarters in Beijing, the organizers of Schneider Electric China also prepared a detailed company introduction for the competitors, so that we can learn more about Schneider’s history, core values, latest products and prospects for the future. The exhibition of 10 finalists had opened our eyes, replacing the traditional vegetation road wisdom tree, protecting the safety of cable workers with intelligent underground cables, and combining the real-time monitoring of the home medical system. These were topics we had never thought about before. In the Q&A section, most of the questions raised by the professors focused on the strictness of the technical demonstration and the horizontal comparison with the existing technology, which required the contestant to have a comprehensive understanding of their own projects.
The global final in Barcelona was the last battle of Go Green for us. The final teams were from China, the United States, Britain, Spain, India, the Philippines, Brazil, and Turkey. Many teams projects had a prototype for their projects. The team from Princeton University, US, had even completed their projects in Kenya. It is admirable that they have their own startup and team. The team from India also brought their own batteries for judges and other competitors to see their products.
——Tiancheng (Michael) WANG
Take-aways from the Schneider Go Green Global Student Competition
After the competition, we had the honor to participate in the Innovation Summit held by Schneider Electric and visited the Innovation Hub exhibition at the summit. We experienced and learned about all kinds of technologies that Schneider is developing and has already matured. We also saw Schneider’s efforts and achievements in the sustainable intelligent development of electrical appliances in daily life.
Throughout this competition, we not only made friends and shared our ideas with other students who wanted to contribute to the sustainable development of cities from all over the world but also received suggestions from judges and mentors. At the same time, we had the opportunity to experience the unique culture of Spain and taste local food. Schneider Go Green 2019 was overall a rewarding journey.
——Xingyi (Kirsi) FAN
Want to share your bold idea and get the chance to live the trip of your lifetime? Register now for Schneider Go Green 2020 edition at:
About the Authors
Xingyi (Kirsi) FAN and Tiancheng (Michael) WANG are students from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology studying environmental management and technology. They participated in the 2019 edition of Schneider Go Green under the team name, Rising. Their bold idea gave them the opportunity to present their project at the Innovation Summit in Barcelona
