The Environment and Water Resources Minister and Schneider Electric have awarded three Singaporean undergraduate students for engineering the most impressive energy-efficient automation products at the first Energy Efficiency and Innovative Automation to Save Our Plant Awards.
Schneider Electric held the competition last week to challenge engineering students to develop energy efficienct projects using the company’s own products.
The event saw the winning entrant, Tay Zar Myint of third year university, collect AU$4,111, while the first runner-up received AU$1,644.
Teams of students comprising one to five members each selected 10 items from a list of Schneider Electric products ranging from electrical protections to automation controls.
The winning product, called the Smart Chiller Plant, is a chiller plant pump controller designed to maintain a comfortable environment while consuming less electricity than traditional models which use more power at lower levels.
According to Zar Myint, a traditional chiller plant pump is designed to cater for future expansion so it uses more energy than required.
The submissions were judged based on creativity, originality, functionality, practicality, and the highest return of investment (ROI) within the shortest duration.
The panel of judges comprised of the heads of various departments from Schneider Electric Singapore.
While the French-based energy management giant was “delighted” with the innovations and ingenuity displayed at the competition, it is not clear whether the event will be held annually, or if a local version of the competition will be developed.