A car designed to cover 3000 km across Australia using solar energy and an environmentally friendly food product based on blue mussels is among the eight projects celebrated at this year's Blue Dot Diploma Award Ceremony.
This marks the tenth consecutive year that the ceremony has taken place. This year, diplomas will be awarded to 59 students across the eight projects.
On the library stage at DTU Lyngby Campus, Jakob Fritz Hansen, director of the office for research, advice, and innovation, stands with a microphone in hand:
"As is tradition, we once again celebrate our Blue Dot projects. The diploma you will receive is not just a piece of paper. It symbolises that you have done something extraordinary alongside your studies."
The projects provide students with practical experience, allowing them to develop their technical skills and create a sense of community across fields of study and semesters.
International achievements
One by one, students from each project are called up to the stage. Here, they give a brief presentation of their project and receive a handshake and a diploma from Jakob Fritz Hansen, followed by a group photo and applause from the audience.
The first to be called up on stage is DTU Windracer. The students on this project build wind turbines and a wind-powered car that can travel faster than the wind in direct headwinds. The car competed in an international competition in the Netherlands:
"We got second place with our old car despite bad weather conditions. Next year, we'll have a new car, and hopefully, we can win," says one of the students from the team.
Blue Dot projects participate in at least one international tournament or event every year, where they often achieve impressive results.
Explosion prevents participation
The large team from DanSTAR steps onto the stage. They design, build, and launch rockets. One of the students holds a damaged rocket motor in his hand. The fate of the rocket is displayed on the screen behind them:
"Five, four, three, two, one..." says the video, showing a test of the team's rocket, which was supposed to be ready three weeks later for the European Rocketry Challenge in Portugal. However, the rocket doesn't take off. Instead, there is a loud explosion, and it goes up in flames. DanSTAR had to forego competing in the event.
"Hopefully, next year, we can show you a successful launch," the DanSTAR team optimistically states.
Jakob Fritz Hansen concludes by thanking all those in attendance and hoping to see even more become a part of DTU's Blue Dot projects in the future.
You can read more about DTU Blue Dot here.
