Local NTU Undergraduates Invents Energy Efficient Solutions for Everyday Living

Posted by FFW on Thursday, August 14, 2008

Schneider Electric Rewards Ideas with the Most Significant and Sustainable Energy and Cost Savings at the First Energy Efficiency Competition

SINGAPORE, 14 August 2008 - Schneider Electric, the global leader in energy management, launched a competition with the theme of “Energy Efficiency and Innovative Automation to Save Our Planet”, and
challenged engineering undergraduates in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) of Singapore, to develop energy efficiency projects using
Schneider Electric products as a platform.

Schneider Electric contributed products spanning from electrical protections to automation controls for the competition to empower NTU EEE undergraduates with the essential tools so that they can focus on
innovation. Each competing team, with 1 to 5 members, would select 10 items from the comprehensive product list for their project proposal. Each team can use up to S$200 of Schneider components for their
project.

Judging Criteria And Prizes
The student submissions were judged based on creativity, originality, functionality, practicality, and the highest return of investment (ROI) within the shortest duration. The panel of judges comprises of the
heads of departments of various departments from Schneider Electric Singapore.

The winning entry receives S$5,000 in cash, while the first runner up receives S$2,000 and the second runner up receives S$1,000.

Competition Winners
After careful and stringent evaluation by the expert judges, the winning entries and students are:

WINNER:
Smart Chiller Plant, Tay Zar Myint, 3rd year student
Zar Myint observed that a chiller plant pump is generally designed to cater for future expansion and so it would consume more electricity than actually required. Zar Myint used Schneider Electric products to
optimize a standard chiller control system. Tay re-designed the controller so that it would consume only the necessary electricity while maintaining comfort for inhabitants of a building, thereby saving consumption costs.

First Runner Up:
Automatic Damper and Light Control System, Kyaw Soe Moe, 3rd year student
Soe Moe observed that uncontrolled and unmanaged air conditioning and lighting in a less occupied area would invariably waste energy and increase operating costs. Soe Moe designed an automatic control using
Schneider Electric products for damper and lighting system in commercial buildings, which monitored the presence of occupants in a room to optimize the damper, fan speed and lighting system accordingly in order to save consumption costs.

Second Runner Up:
Energy Saving for HDB Corridor Lightings, Kyaw Thet Zin, 3rd year student
Thet Zin observed that the florescent lights along the corridor of Housing Development Board (HDB) flats in Singapore are currently operating at 100% intensity from 7 pm to 7 am every day. Thet Zin used Schneider Electric programmable controllers to design an intelligent lighting system to vary the intensity of the corridor lights at various hours of the day, while maintaining adequate lighting and public safety. With such a system, consumption costs are reduced while saving energy.

“We are very delighted at the innovations and ingenuity of the NTU EEE students who participated at the inaugural Energy Efficiency Competition,” says Agnes Lim, HR Manager, Schneider Electric. “We are
pleasantly surprised at the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of how these students used the available Schneider Electric products and components to create energy-efficient solutions that can easily be
deployed in the community to serve the public, and to save consumption costs and energy. We look forward to welcoming these future innovators and engineers into the workplace, and we believe they will be future
leaders of energy and resource preservation, and champions for saving our earth.”

About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management, offers
integrated solutions making energy safer, more reliable, efficient and
productive in the energy & infrastructure, industry, data centers &
networks, buildings and residential markets. With sales of 17.3 billion
euro in 2007, the company’s 120,000 employees in 102 countries help
individuals & organizations make the most of their energy. Visit
Schneider Electric on the Internet at www.schneider-electric.com.