Ultimate prize for Strathclyde undergraduates
Three undergraduates from Strathclyde University have won the ultimate internships at BP by coming up with an innovative idea for the world’s first carbon-neutral refinery.
The Strathclyde trio - Guy Drori, Edward Kay and Simonas Stilius - were the winners of BP’s 2012 Ultimate Field Trip competition. During their paid six-week internships they will work at one of BP's deepwater oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico, and also with the company's operations team in Trinidad and Tobago.
The team will work on a real project, which they will present to senior management at the end of the six weeks. After undergoing full safety training they will be going offshore and gaining access to parts of BP that aren’t available to regular BP interns.
The awards ceremony took place at the Royal Institution in London. It was compered by Dr Kevin Fong, TV and radio presenter, newspaper columnist and honorary senior lecturer in physiology at University College, London.
The Strathclyde students called themselves Aspire. Their proposal focused on the idea of capturing CO2 produced during the refining process, then using algae in photo-bioreactors to turn it into hydrogen and biomass that can then be turned into biofuels or used in bio-product manufacturing. The Aspire proposal also included wind turbines to provide electricity, and a community eco-park.
Edward Kay from Aspire was stunned and delighted to win the competition. He said: “I’m just really shocked that we’ve won - it’s an amazing feeling. Throughout the process we just tried to do our best and we’ve put so much effort into this...it’s fantastic!”
The team will work on a real project, which they will present to senior management at the end of the six weeks. After undergoing full safety training they will be going offshore and gaining access to parts of BP that aren’t available to regular BP interns.
The awards ceremony took place at the Royal Institution in London. It was compered by Dr Kevin Fong, TV and radio presenter, newspaper columnist and honorary senior lecturer in physiology at University College, London.
The Strathclyde students called themselves Aspire. Their proposal focused on the idea of capturing CO2 produced during the refining process, then using algae in photo-bioreactors to turn it into hydrogen and biomass that can then be turned into biofuels or used in bio-product manufacturing. The Aspire proposal also included wind turbines to provide electricity, and a community eco-park.
Edward Kay from Aspire was stunned and delighted to win the competition. He said: “I’m just really shocked that we’ve won - it’s an amazing feeling. Throughout the process we just tried to do our best and we’ve put so much effort into this...it’s fantastic!”
Team-mate Simonas Stilius added “We’re still in a state of shock! The Ultimate Field Trip has a reputation for being the toughest test for STEM students in the UK, so it really is a surprise to win, but also a huge honour. We can’t wait to start our internship.”
Aspire beat two other finalists to the big prize. Both runner-up teams were from Imperial College, London. The members of C-Less - Zie Wearn Chua, Zhi Xiong Chong and Wern Chia Chang – are all masters engineering students. Their idea involved a green culture induction programme for staff, numerous small incremental changes to the refinery's operations, and a final phase involving integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), a technology that turns coal into gas for more efficient, cleaner energy production, and carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The other runners-up were Global Intelligence Consulting: Dun Xiang Ang, Nicholas Kwok, and Zhen Xiong Lim, also engineering masters students due to complete their studies in 2013. Their proposal comprised a carbon management plan including refinery upgrades, using CO2 to extract methane from coal beds, artificial photosynthesis and carbon off-setting via wind turbines.
The runners-up all receive cash prizes and a lunch with a senior BP leader.
The three finalist teams were chosen from 45 entries - more than twice as many as last year. Each team had to design a poster and produce a four-minute film about their proposal. The teams each had two BP mentors - engineers and scientists from different parts of the company who have given their time to support the Ultimate Field Trip programme - to help prepare the pitches. Aspire's mentors were Roger Skinner and Susan Shaw, the C-Less mentors were Martin Sellers and Nick Gudde, and Global Intelligence Consulting's mentors were Steve Cawley and John Baker.
Aspire beat two other finalists to the big prize. Both runner-up teams were from Imperial College, London. The members of C-Less - Zie Wearn Chua, Zhi Xiong Chong and Wern Chia Chang – are all masters engineering students. Their idea involved a green culture induction programme for staff, numerous small incremental changes to the refinery's operations, and a final phase involving integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), a technology that turns coal into gas for more efficient, cleaner energy production, and carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The other runners-up were Global Intelligence Consulting: Dun Xiang Ang, Nicholas Kwok, and Zhen Xiong Lim, also engineering masters students due to complete their studies in 2013. Their proposal comprised a carbon management plan including refinery upgrades, using CO2 to extract methane from coal beds, artificial photosynthesis and carbon off-setting via wind turbines.
The runners-up all receive cash prizes and a lunch with a senior BP leader.
The three finalist teams were chosen from 45 entries - more than twice as many as last year. Each team had to design a poster and produce a four-minute film about their proposal. The teams each had two BP mentors - engineers and scientists from different parts of the company who have given their time to support the Ultimate Field Trip programme - to help prepare the pitches. Aspire's mentors were Roger Skinner and Susan Shaw, the C-Less mentors were Martin Sellers and Nick Gudde, and Global Intelligence Consulting's mentors were Steve Cawley and John Baker.
The students spent six months on their projects, fitting in the work around their university courses. The build-up to the Ultimate Field Trip grand final event coincided with exams for most of them - in fact several had exams scheduled for the same day. Zhen Xiong from Global Intelligence Consulting said: “It’s been pretty intense - I had an exam this morning and another last week. As if we didn’t have enough to stress about! But although it’s been hard work, it was definitely all worthwhile. It’s been a wonderful experience.”
The grand final judges were David Eyton, BP’s group head of technology, the company’s chief scientist Ellen Williams, Joan Wales, head of Other Businesses and Corporate in BP’s safety and operational risk organisation, and Iain Gray, CEO of the Technology Strategy Board, a UK public body set up to drive innovation in industry. Each of the three finalist teams faced 20 minutes of questioning from the judges in front of an audience of 150 in the Royal Institution’s historic lecture theatre. Then the judges retired for an hour of deliberations before announcing the winners. Eyton said: “This is the third year of the competition and they’ve all been nail-biters. Each of the three teams had at least one advocate among the judges - it was very close.”
Before the winners were announced the audience were invited to vote for their favourite project and the result reflected the judges’ verdict: Aspire won 35% of the vote, C-Less won 34%, and Global Intelligence Consulting won 31%.
The grand final judges were David Eyton, BP’s group head of technology, the company’s chief scientist Ellen Williams, Joan Wales, head of Other Businesses and Corporate in BP’s safety and operational risk organisation, and Iain Gray, CEO of the Technology Strategy Board, a UK public body set up to drive innovation in industry. Each of the three finalist teams faced 20 minutes of questioning from the judges in front of an audience of 150 in the Royal Institution’s historic lecture theatre. Then the judges retired for an hour of deliberations before announcing the winners. Eyton said: “This is the third year of the competition and they’ve all been nail-biters. Each of the three teams had at least one advocate among the judges - it was very close.”
Before the winners were announced the audience were invited to vote for their favourite project and the result reflected the judges’ verdict: Aspire won 35% of the vote, C-Less won 34%, and Global Intelligence Consulting won 31%.
