Deepesh Jayasekara(UNNC), Sen Yang (UNNC) and another two student from UNUK have been recommended to represent the University of Nottingham in this global online competition in the Tri-campus competition by the tri-campus judging panel. Deepesh C. Jayasekara(UNNC), got the runners-up in the final competition and will receive both online careers training and mentoring from PwC.

In the 2019/20 competition PwC challenged students to respond to the following question: ‘How can universities help individuals gain a broader perspective on the long-term impact and consequences of their day-to-day actions on people, society and the environment? What types of jobs will an environmentally-sensitive economy need, and what is the best way to prepare students for them?'. Entrants then each produced a three-minute video in which they presented their answer to the question.

Deepesh Jayasekara, a PhD student in Manufacturing Engineering, gave his answer from the perspective of design and sustainable manufacturing. Instead of buying a new electrical devices to replace an old one, Deepesh recommended to conduct a circular system, a more sustainable way to free the environment and society from the toxic pollutants. “I believe that the university as a change maker can play a significant role in changing the linear system to a circular one. University has the power not only to influence the student but also to influence the industry and local government.”

Deepesh entered the UNNC PhD programme in 2019 with the Doctoral Training Partnership scholarships (UNNC and CNITECH).  He was motivated by one of his PhD supervisors Dr Gavin Lai to attend this competition. He started researching on sustainability issue in manufacturing and identified an interesting problem to address. It was his first time to participate similar competition, so he did spent much time went through the 3MT videos on the website and keep practicing to fine-tune his presentation. He believes that there is no shortcut to the success. Practice makes you perfect.

“I feel proud to represent the University of Nottingham at the global stage. Also, it was a privilege to compete against the best 44 contestants from 17 leading research universities in the world. To be honest, I was elated when I got to know that I was selected to the global top 10 and finally winning the Runners-up. I never thought I would go this far, but here I am. I would like to end with one of my favorite quotes from my childhood, 'Try and try, one day you can fly'.”

Another student Sen Yang also encourages more postgraduate students could engage in this competition. "Though I was not able to compete in the final round, I had a great time during the process. I chose to join this event because it seems very interesting and fun. I also had a nice chance to investigate a new field and made some new friends. It helped me to polish my oral presentation skills and build self-confidence."