Community-oriented project
The contest "Students with startup ideas" in 2025 (SV STARTUP -2025) recently organized by the University of Technical Education (University of Danang ) attracted a large number of students from universities in the city to participate.
After two qualifying rounds, 13 best projects in many fields such as technology engineering, digital transformation, smart agriculture , environmental protection, products supporting community health care... competed in the final round.
Many projects aim at community experiences such as the “Net Zero coffee” project by a group of students Huynh Vu Cong Khoa (Faculty of Electrical and Electronics), Truong Anh Tri, a former student of the University of Technical Education and Tran Thi Phuc Diem, a student of Greenwich University.
This project is a model that integrates beverage business with STEM/STEAMeducational space (an educational method that integrates the fields of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) through practical experiential activities such as: growing mushrooms with a recycled kit from coffee grounds, playing 3D checkers, weekend workshops on the theme of green agriculture, fun physics...
At the final round of the 2025 “Students with Startup Ideas” competition organized by the University of Technical Education, the project “LotusEase - Semi-automatic fresh lotus seed shelling machine” won the special prize. The first prize was awarded to the project “Design and manufacture of a rotary drum dryer using a heat exchanger combined with biomass fuel”; the second prize was awarded to the project “NextPark - comprehensive automation in parking using algorithms and automatic control mechanisms”.
Truong Anh Tri, representative of the group, shared his hope that Net Zero coffee will become a model to help students knowledge easily access scientific, technological and engineering through practice, testing and interaction with educational devices and products developed by the group.
Similarly, a group of students Nguyen Hung Tam, Le Anh Van (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Technical Education) and Pham Thi Thu Thuy, (Faculty of Economics), Le Thi Cam Doan, Faculty of International Business, University of Economics (University of Danang) researched and successfully manufactured a semi-automatic fresh lotus seed shell separator - LotusEase with a separation efficiency of up to 50kg/hour and an intact finished product rate of up to 91%.
According to the information provided by the research team, the product is expected to cost from 15 million VND (much lower than imported or large-scale machines on the market), making it easily accessible to farmers, cooperatives, and small and medium-sized processing facilities. At the same time, the product can be upgraded to a large-capacity automatic lotus seed shelling line, meeting the needs of industrial-scale processing.
Student Le Anh Van, a member of the LotusEase project, hopes that by participating in the startup competition, the project will attract the attention of investors and technical experts, as well as connect with startup incubation programs, gradually bringing products to the market, possibly starting from large lotus growing areas such as Dong Thap, Hue, Nghe An, etc.
Support student startups
To support student startups, some universities in the city have incubators such as: Startup and Innovation Space of Dong A University; Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research (University of Technical Education, University of Da Nang); Microsoft Duy Tan Innovation Center; Innovation Space (University of Technology, University of Da Nang).
From these incubators, participating students are trained and improve their capacity in scientific and technological research projects for startups. After taking the training courses, student Le Anh Van shared: "Risk management is the topic that impresses me the most because this topic helps me have a clearer view of the challenges that may arise during project implementation, from the market, technology to human resources. Previously, I often focused on the idea and the benefits without thinking about the potential risks of the project. Identifying risks and building backup plans is very important, helping the project avoid being "broken" when an incident occurs."
Associate Professor, Dr. Phan Cao Tho, Chairman of the Science and Training Council, University of Technical Education, said that universities are not only places for training but also centers for inspiring creativity and nurturing start-up projects. Converting scientific and technological topics into market products is a long journey, requiring synchronous support from policies, training institutions and business networks.
At the 2025 “Students with Startup Ideas” competition, for nearly 2 months (April 15 to June 30), the school coordinated to organize 10 free training courses for the final teams.
By participating in the courses, students are equipped with a modern theoretical foundation associated with the trend of the 4.0 industrial revolution; are trained in strategic thinking, problem solving, project management and commercialization of practical and sustainable products.
With a variety of topics, students are exposed to advanced innovative thinking methods, have a deeper insight into the national policy context, global environmental commitments and factors that promote innovative entrepreneurship. Each course is an important preparation step to help projects improve their competitiveness and move closer to the target market.
"With thorough investment, practical content and modern training methods, the training program has opened the door for research ideas to become real startup projects; at the same time, it is a solid stepping stone for students to affirm the role of the young generation in innovative startup activities in the new era", Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Cao Tho emphasized.
Source: https://baodanang.vn/chap-canh-uoc-mo-khoi-nghiep-cho-sinh-vien-3265208.html
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