Grundfos competition went through the roof
Unique co-operation between a number of Denmark's finest educational institutions and Grundfos reached its peak when, on Friday night, Grundfos pointed out the winners of this year's Grundfos Challenge competition.
Photo: The winners among the commercial students
The winners of DKK 75,000 among the commercial students were Marie Skjold-Jørgensen, Sune Suhr Frandsen and Lars-Morten Andersen from University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Economics, whereas an equivalent amount of money was won by engineering students Martin Lynder Franck, Kristian Fjordgaard and Søren Bøndergaard from the Engineering College of Aarhus.
Photo: The winners among the engineering students
The educational institutions behind the winning teams received a statuette and the possibility to hand out a Grundfos donation of DKK 50,000.
A special Innovation Award of DKK 15,000 was won by Sofie Kastbjerg, Søren Porsgaard and Jakob Arendt Rasmussen. Aarhus University, iNANO center.
Photo: The winners of the special Innovation Award
"In the course of the week we saw rewarding dialogues among the students and it was very inspiring to watch their ideas and suggestions. They have helped us move one step further towards making Grundfos an even more considerate and green company. We got inspiration for future work on developing technologies, business methods and products that the world has never seen before," said Group President, Carsten Bjerg.
The deadline for submissions to the written competition was Thursday at 3 pm. The students had hardly wiped their foreheads before actor and director, Jens Arentzen arrived to inspire them with good advice as to how they could present their ideas in the best way to the juries. On Friday it was time to face the juries.
This is the third time Grundfos invited students for a week of competition regarding innovation, communication, talent and team work. The pump company offered a large professional network and its training centre, The Poul Due Jensen Academy, at the students' disposition. From Monday morning until Thursday afternoon the students had the opportunity to challenge Grundfos' way of securing lower energy consumption and reduced exploitation of resources for end-users throughout the world.
Further information on Grundfos Challenge and facts about the winners is available on this site. In addition you may read the judges evaluation of the winning papers below.
Additional information from Communication Officer, Mikkel Rønberg Friis-Thomsen, on mobile phone +45 29 33 55 79.
Economic: University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Economics.
The solution of the winning team is built upon a real need in the world and in a balanced way adds to Grundfos' core competences. The team has showed impressive teamwork and a great flair for creativity and innovation capacity.
The solution is based on an idea that can have great influence for local communities, the protection of the environment and our future generations.
The world needs integrated solutions and this idea will continue to give Grundfos a competitive edge and perspectives for the future. At the same time we see a clear link to the innovation intent of Grundfos.
The mission of the idea is to build up GreenTech Villages for millions of people in China that are carbon neutral and focused on reusing and cleaning the water supply.
Engineering: Engineering College of Aarhus
The solution, presented by this team, has a major impact on the energy consumption, and by that is direct targeting this year's challenge, which is how Grundfos can optimize the living conditions and minimize CO2 emission in a sustainable way.
The presentation by the team, of this solution, was very convincing and very well documented, which also has been significant for the way this team has been working through out the week.
The heat pump is a very simple concept, which can be implemented in all ready existing buildings, which means that it in a very short time can have a major impact. The heat pump solution has an impact on both the heating system through the winter time, and also in need for air-conditioning through the summer time.
Innovation: University of Aarhus, iNANO Centre.
The idea presented by this team is innovative in more aspects. The business potential is very high, due to the fact that it is targeting the end user, and gives security for clean water.
The product concept is based on technologies which are available, but for sure will be further developed. Furthermore this product concept can be commercialized quite easy, due to the fact that the need is very user driven.
The "Lab on a Tap" is a product which in an innovative way will brand Grundfos, and at the same time gives the end user higher security of the water quality supplied by the public water works.
