Students from King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) were selected to take part in the world-class "Solar Decathlon Europe 2019" competition, an innovative energy-saving project held in Hungary.
The proud Thai students were the only Asian contestants and obtained four rewards from the jury.
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi’s (KMUTT) team is composed of students from the School of Architecture and Design, Faculty of Engineering, and Faculty of Industrial Education and Technology. They all joined efforts to conceptualise and design an innovative energy-saving project entitled “Resilient Nest”. The KMUTT students competed with 16 other countries, including Romania, Hungary, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Algeria.
The competition has run over two months at the end of which Thai’s “Resilient Nest” project was granted:
- Award Winner: People’s Choice Award
- 1st Runner-up Award: Comfort Condition
- 2nd Runner-up Award: Innovation and Viability
- 2nd Runner-up Award: Neighbourhood Integration and Impact
The Solar Decathlon Europe 2019 competition was supported by several stakeholders, including teachers from King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) and Electrolux Thailand who trained students and provided advanced technology household appliances such as refrigerators, microwaves, ovens, hoods, washing machines, dishwashers and dryers. Power consumption of all Electrolux products is less than the market standard with 30 percent energy saved.
Electrolux’s main goals including realizing students’ potential and fulfilling the company’s vision and mission in the university learning environment driven by the same creativity and teamwork.
Solar Decathlon (The US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon) is an international competition that challenges forward-thinking students to design and build highly efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy. The winning teams are the ones that best blend design architectural and engineering excellence with innovation, market potential, building efficiency, and smart energy production. The selected projects will be displayed to the public for a few months. King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi’s (KMUTT) students first participated in 2014 and won 1st Runner-up award, Public Choice Award (Online). This 2019 King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi’s (KMUTT) brings its Thai talent to the world for the second time as students won the People’s Choice Award.
Ratchata Suttapattanon, General Manager, Thailand and International Markets, Electrolux Thailand Co., Ltd. said: “We are delighted to support students from King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) to participate in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2019 to express the skills, vision and creativity of Thai students. Apart from product sponsorship, Electrolux also trains these students to learn about the installation and how to use them in the most sustainable functions which is the ultimate goal of this contest.”
“We are proud to be selected to represent Thailand to compete at international level. Energy-saving should no longer be considered a trend. Rather, it’s the way of living every nation should adopt and educate its citizens on. The competition in Hungary was a chance for us to broaden our horizons and exchange ideas on sustainable living with foreign friends. It showed that although we differ in culture and language, we share exactly the same commitment to sustainability. Our European friends were enthusiastic about our “Resilient Nest” project and truly loved the Thai food recipes we cooked using the superior Electrolux kitchen appliances. We are very grateful for this opportunity”, concluded Kasan Chanto, one of the KMUTT teammates.