FoSE students swept four awards in smart Global Store Sustainable Operation Design Competition

18 June 2024

The smart Global Store Sustainable Operation Design Competition was held at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) on 6 June.

Among the six teams from Universities of Nottingham community in the UK, Malaysia, and China, two UNNC student teams led by Tianyu Chen and Yanchen Shen, two final-year students majoring in Product Design and Manufacture (PDM) at UNNC, won the first prize and the "It's smart" award, third prize and the "Humanist Spirit" award respectively.

The first-prize winning team included Tianyu Chen, Xiaoxi Wang, Ziyun Xiao and Yunxiao Du from PDM, , Yimeng Huang from Architecture, and Junhao Cao from International Business Management. The interdisciplinary team leveraged the strength of each individual team member and came up with three innovative projects for smart stores. Among them, the meal delivery by small carts project impressed the panel with a perfect combination of business and environmental protection concepts. The project featured coffee cups made from coffee grounds and chairs made from recycled waste wheels, and using AR technology to enhance the user experience.

Yanchen Shen, a final year PDM student, leads another FoSE students-dominated interdisciplinary team participating in the competition, with Yifan Chen and Xiangqin Shi also from PDM, Xu Zhai from International Business Economics, Jing Xu from Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence, and Ruiheng Lan, a PhD candidate in Product Design and Manufacture.

Through research, Yanchen Shen's team found the main users of smart vehicles are family-oriented, and the company aims to attract younger crowds. They introduced "Future Oasis," a sustainable smart store design rooted in Chinese supermarkets. It offers car display areas with a virtual experience, a smart lifestyle corner, auto parts material & lifecycle display, green office area, exhibition area, low-carbon contribution wall and space for the community activities. Apart from the multi-function of the space, the team highlighted its sustainable design centered strategy by using recycled furniture and a sustainable built environment. They aim to promote the brand's sustainability, enhance store experience, attract customers, foster community economic circulation, and boost smart market growth in China.

Ms Mandy Zhang, Global CMO of smart, expressed her hope to promote sustainable development to a new level with more young generations injecting vigour into future operations. This is the common goal shared by smart and UoN in the field of sustainability.

As the supervisor, Dr Bingjian Liu, the PDM Course Director, also highly praised the performance of the two teams. He said, "Based on solid sustainable design theory and in-depth field research, they integrated commercial needs with social responsibility and won the recognition of the judging panel through innovative solutions and professional presentation skills."

Sustainable design is crucial for addressing environmental challenges and achieving sustainable development. UNNC's Product Design and Manufacture values sustainable design education, teaching students to apply it throughout design processes, from material selection to recycling. For instance, in the “RSA Design Project” module, students minimize material use while balancing aesthetics and commercial value.

In recent years, aligned with UK's The fourth edition of the Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes and the PDM programme accreditation bodies, IET and iED standards, the programme has ensured sustainable content in every grade's curriculum, fostering strong sustainable theory and design methods among students.