DTU students were prominent among the winners of the challenging 2021 “Sustainable Energy Initiative” contest finals, held online on November 26. One member of the team won first prize and the team finished third overall. The contest is jointly organized by the Vietnam Union of Science & Technology Associations (VUSTA) and New Energy Nexus Vietnam to promote the creativity and awareness of sustainable development amongst the younger generation. 

 

The objective of the nationwide contest was to find solutions to slow down climate change and develop new and renewable energy sources. Students from all over Vietnam attended and could register individually or in teams. The individuals were put into teams to develop their ideas together.

 

The organizers award prizes to the winners

 

During the online hackathon round, prior to the finals, teams came up with seven ideas:

 

- Creating large, digitized maps of energy use at industrial zones

- Illuminating outdoor billboards with solar energy or mini wind turbines

- Monitoring and optimizing energy use in factories, at construction sites and in offices

- Evaluating and managing commercial and industrial carbon emissions facilities

- Using Smart Bins for garbage sorting

- The design and the installation of  fast and compact, low-load solar power systems

- Innovative domestic waste treatment solutions

 

The best eight teams from different universities continued to the finals and, after six weeks of preparation, presented their results. The three winners were:

 

- First: ENLIL, a “Smart and sustainable lighting solution,” by the joint DTU, Ho Chi Minh City University of Science and the Hanoi University of Science & Technology team

- Second: “Organic waste management, using black soldier flies,” by Can Tho University students

- Third: “The FWP food waste processing machine,” by DTU students 

 

In addition, the three winning teams qualified for internships to incubate their projects at the Becamex Business Incubator (BBI), to go on company visits and attend a series of personal development conferences

 

The “Smart and sustainable lighting solution” wins first prize

 

Three individual students were grouped into the ENLIL team:

 

- Nguyen Anh Khai Hoan, studying Electrical Automation at DTU

- Pham Le Ngoc Tram, Materials Science, from the Ho Chi Minh city University of Science

- Tran Duc Nguyen, Electricity, from the Hanoi University of Science & Technology

 

Despite initial concerns, with common fields of study and a passion for research, the energetic young team quickly came to understand each other and rapidly developed new, competitive ideas on smart and sustainable lighting solutions.

 

Nguyen Anh Khai Hoan accepts first prize

 

Once they had settled on a project, the ENLIL team designed and developed a hybrid renewable energy system, comprising a vertical turbine and solar panels to generate electrical energy, making use of wind energy from high-speed vehicles to power the turbine, day and night. Using both wind and solar energy to generate electricity was the project’s major strength. Electricity generated by the system first charges an accumulator and any excess electricity is passed through a transducer to be fed into the electric network of a shop or elsewhere. This allows cost reduction on the storage device and promotes future sustainable energy use.

 

“To realize this project, we spent much time researching renewable energy, equipment and the operation of turbines, solar lights and so on,” explained Nguyen Anh Khai Hoan. “I am an Electrical Automation student, had an understanding of electrical principles and could have easily implemented the project alone. However, the three of us were from different universities and could only work together remotely and had to meet late in the evening, usually after 10 pm. As the contest drew to an end, we became close to each other and were delighted to win first price for our highly successful project.”

 

The “FWP food waste processing machine” wins third prize

 

The FWP team was mentored by MSc Pham Ngoc Quang from the Center for Electrical Engineering (CEE) and consisted of DTU students only:

 

- Nguyen  Van Hoang Long, Mechatronics

- Pham Khac Minh Duc, Mechatronics

- Nguyen Thanh Hung, Mechatronics

Nguyen Minh Huy, Business Administration

 

The FWP team discovered that 87% of households waste two plates of food a day, which then pollutes the environment. Farmers regularly use the unprocessed food scraps to feed their livestock, which endangers the nutrition and digestive systems of both animals and consumers alike, which gave the team the idea for their food waste processing machine.

 

The FWP members work to complete their project

 

The students designed a machine 80 cm high and 70 cm wide, with a food waste grinding chamber with a capacity of 16 kg. Food in the chamber is ground for 30 to 45 minutes. The machine automatically removes water secreted by the food during the grinding, through a piping system. After grinding, the machine dries the scraps at 80°C for three hours. Then the fine grinding unit also mixes the food with microorganisms to produce fine bran pellets. In four hours, the machine can process up to 16 kg of food waste to produce 4 kg of pellets and then shuts down automatically.

 

“The bran pallets the machine produces are very clean, ensure nutrition, are easy for livestock to digest and keeps their intestines clean,” explains Pham Khac Minh Duc. “Breeders will be happy when they use the machine, are able to produce clean feed themselves and save money.”

 

The “FWP food waste processing machine”

 

In addition to the third prize in this contest, the FWP food waste processing machine had previously won several other prizes:

 

- Third prize at the “Sustainable Energy Initiative” held by New Energy Nexus company

- Finalist at the Hult Prize Impact Summit in Ho Chi Minh City

- Finalist in the Scientific Research contest of the Danang Department of Science & Technology

- Represented DTU at the “Start-up Student Ideas” contest of the Ministry of Education & Training

- First prize of the Hult Prize on the DTU campus

- First prize at the Student Scientific Research conference, organized by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in the DTU School of Engineering & Technology

- Third prize at the DTU Students Scientific Research conference

 

Team member Nguyen Van Hoang Long added, “Participating in contests organized by DTU or external organizations broadens our knowledge and experience and allows us to meet with experts, local companies and potential investors. We are currently focusing on competing in the finals of the Scientific Research contest, organized by the Danang Department of Science & Technology, with the objective of quickly completing our product and marketing it to the benefit of livestock farmers.”