The 2nd Living Lab Project Awards

Faced with unknown challenges such as climate and environmental change, an inclusive society, economic development, and the COVID-19 pandemic, to transform knowledge and ideas into new possibilities and to inspire new solutions will be keys to drive sustainable development. The "Living Lab Project Awards," co-organized by CTCI Education Foundation (CTCI EF) and the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE), aims to bring the experimental environment of the laboratory into real-life scenarios through perception, prototype, verification, and improvement of various complex solutions in a diverse and evolving environment. It is hoped that this can solve sustainable issues that confronted by campus, society, nations, and even the world.

This year’s “Living Lab Project Awards” has been divided into three stages, which are empowerment workshop, mentor interviews, and result presentations. The 20 teams that have been selected for the competition are from 14 colleges and universities, totaling 74 domestic and international students. The proposed ideas are excellent and worthy of recognition.

The first stage “empowerment workshop” was held in the CTCI second headquarters building in November 2021. The event invited Professor Shin-Cheng Yeh of the Graduate Institute of Environmental Education, National Taiwan Normal University to share living lab concepts popular in Europe and the United States. Wayne Huang, founder of My Hong-Te, Pin-Han Huang, head of Eriel Food Biotechnology Co., Ltd., and Cheng-Yu Chang, founder of Slash Living Culture, were also invited to share their entrepreneurial experience and provide insights for project planning .

In the second stage “mentor interviews,” the top 20 teams participated in the one-on-one consultations with industry consultants after finishing a semester of project implementation on February 2022. Steven Tsai, CEO of Unity Sustainability Services, Oliver Chang, co-founder of Impact Hub Taipei, and Yao-De Chen, consultant of Research Center of Sustainable Development Goals in Business Sector, National Taipei University conducted analyses of projects through case studies via various angles. As mentors, they shared entrepreneurial practices and experience to the students, and guided the planning and development directions of the projects.

The final “results presentations” were held online in May. Each team presented their project achievements and share their concepts and solutions for sustainable living. In terms of the selection results, “Getting Windy” of National Yunlin University of Science and Technology was awarded first place and the Sustainable Net-Zero Award. While “Sponge City” and “uCup” of National Taiwan University were both listed second place. Last but not least,  “FUNGIMADE” of National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, “Micro-plasma Miracles” of National Taiwan University, and “CEM SQUARE” of National Taiwan Ocean University came in third place. At the awards ceremony held in July, posters showing achievements of each team were displayed, so that  participating teams can take a look and exchange their experimental plans, thereby sparking new ideas for innovation.

Eugene Chien, Chairman of CTCI EF, stated in his remarks that according to the emission reduction commitments of COP 26 (2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference), governments around the world have proposed “net-zero emission” commitments. In order to achieve a sustainable environment, we need to adjust our living habits, change manufacturing models and business systems. Chien encouraged all participating students to stay innovative and introduce the spirit of living lab to campus. He also expected that these students could continue making an impact on sustainability and enhance national competitiveness.

Group photo of VIPs at the empowerment workshop. Yu-Pin Lin, former Secretary-General of CTCI Education Foundation (2nd from the left), Ming-Cheng Hsiao, CEO of CTCI Group (3rd from the left), and Eugene Chien, Chairman of CTCI EF (4th from the left).

Group photo of the VIPs and students at the empowerment workshop.

Group photo of the VIPs at the awards ceremony. From left to right: Ming-Cheng Hsiao, CEO of CTCI Group, Chia-Pei Chou, Executive Vice President of National Taiwan University, Eugene Chien, Chairman of CTCI EF, Joanne Ho, Chief Sustainability Officer of CTCI Group, and Dao-Tong Lin, Secretary-General of CTCI EF.

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