Hosted by SOE, the 1st Tsinghua-Dow Sustainable Development Innovation Challenge Competition reached the final viva on October 29th in SIEEB.

SOE Vice Dean Zuo Jian’e, Vice Chairman of SOE Council Liu Jianguo, Chairman of SOE Academic Committee Huang Xia, Vice Dean of Tsinghua School of Civil Engineering Wang Zhongjing, Deputy Chief Engineer of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences Song Qianwu, and representatives from Dow Company attended as judges.

A total of 11 teams were selected to the final viva. Chen XI, with her project,The Top of Noah’s Ark-stacked Microbial Desalination Fuels won the first prize. The group of Zhang Tianyuan, with their project Coupling of Wastewater Deep Purification and High Quality Biomass Production Based on Microalgae Cultivation won the second prize.

This competition, initiated in May 2012 for graduate students in SOE, aims to promote the students’ involvement in social and environmental responsibility, and encourage the exploration of sustainable solutions. 13 teams from SOE signed up for the competition.