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Engineering students Rowan Heinrich and Claire Quy, from The University of Western Australia, have been selected as one of the finalist teams of Go Green in the City 2015 and will travel to Paris to present their smarter city energy idea and business case at the end of July.

Named ‘Team Green Light’, Rowan and Claire will be the only team representing Australia in the final stage of the global challenge and will complete against the 11 other teams from 11 different countries.

Engineering student Rowan Heinrich said participants were challenged by energy management company Schneider Electric to develop an idea for Intelligent and efficient energy management for smarter cities.

“Basically, our idea is to install pico-hydroelectric turbines into storm water run-offs in urban areas. Our idea builds on existing infrastructure, and could harness electrical energy from a currently under-utilised source.

“The motivation behind entering the competition was to develop our skills as future engineers, and better understand how to make a difference in the world.

“Energy Management was not something Claire or I have studied. However, our background knowledge from practical engineering projects at university, has allowed us to better understand real world constraints. This along with our prior years of engineering education at UWA managed to put us in the top 12.

As one of the finalist teams, Rowan and Claire will continue working with their appointed Schneider Electric Singapore mentor to prepare the case for their final presentation in Paris.

During their three action-packed days in Paris, ‘Team Green Light’ and other finalists will get to meet the people of Schneider Electric, attend career-building workshops, and give their best shot at claiming the grand prize – a trip around the world, visiting two Schneider Electric offices, and an exclusive career opportunity with Schneider Electric.

This year’s competition had a record 12,808 participants from 168 countries register, making the competition truly global. The final top 12 teams were selected from the 100 teams that made it through to the semi-finals, by a judging panel composed of Schneider Electric business leaders. ‘Team Green Light’ along with other finalist teams – from Brazil, China, France, India, Japan, Morocco, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Turkey and US – were evaluated on the basis of a synopsis and a video business case.

To find out more watch ‘Team Green light’s’ video submission .

Media references

Clara Dodman (Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics)                                   (+61 8) 6488 5079

David Stacey (UWA Media)                                                                            (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716