Vietnamese male student makes his mark at Conrad Challenge

After confidently presenting his initiative at the United Nations, Pham Hoang Long (born in 2008, Ho Chi Minh City), a student at the British Vietnamese International School (BIS), and his group of friends continued to receive a "double" award at the Conrad Challenge science competition.

Starting from community initiatives

Born in 2008, Pham Hoang Long soon revealed his passion for economics , science and social activities. Instead of focusing only on studying, Long chose to initiate community projects to create positive impacts on society.

In 2023, Long founded the Eco-Stall project, a mobile stall model using environmentally friendly materials, in line with the ESG green transformation trend. The project won First Prize in the Innovation Competition of the Vietnam - UK Research and Training Institute (VNUK, University of Danang ) and was implemented in a number of local restaurants. All profits and donations from Eco-Stall were announced to be used to support the disadvantaged in Ho Chi Minh City.

Not stopping there, Long built the ToyJoy project with the slogan, “Sharing Toy, Sharing Joy”, aiming to give quality toys to children because of the lack of quality toys due to the rich-poor divide. In addition, Long’s project successfully raised 180 million VND to support the Heart Surgery Fund of Children’s Hospital 2.

“What makes me proud is not only the amount of money raised, but also seeing items that seem to be discarded bring joy and hope to other children,” Long shared.

Pham Hoang Long (left) and friends at the ToyJoy project booth. Photo: NVCC

ToyJoy now has its own website and attracts the attention of not only Vietnamese but also international donors.

Journey to the United Nations

From those first steps, Long gradually expanded and participated in more international competitions with his unique ideas. After winning the prize at VNUK, Long was invited to attend Global Goals Week 2023, then continued to perfect his ideas at the UNITAR Asia-Pacific Youth Ambassador program for 10 weeks. As a result, Long became one of two Vietnamese representatives attending the Summit of the Future 2024 (SOTF 2024), a United Nations Summit on global challenges.

Long (in black suit in the middle) and young people from other countries at SOTF. Photo: NVCC

At the “Intergenerational Solidarity” discussion, Long impressed with his speech on the role of youth in creating sustainable impact, with evidence from Eco-Stall and the Global Innovators Hub (GIH) club founded by Long. GIH currently has more than 150 members in 6 schools in 5 countries, acting as an incubator for high school students.

Long recalled: “After my speech, I proactively connected with many scholars, founders and representatives of international organizations such as UNDP, UNESCO, and the Ban Ki-moon Foundation. Through that, I learned that, for an initiative to go far, it is necessary to combine the creativity of young people with the experience of the previous generation.”

It was at this event that Long received attention from many international experts, including the CEO of Space Center Houston - Mr. William T. Harris. This was also the beginning of the next journey: Conrad Challenge 2024.

“Double” awards at Conrad Challenge

If SOTF 2024 is where Long affirms the voice of Vietnamese youth, Conrad Challenge 2024 is where Long and his colleagues create miracles.

Along with four other students from BIS and Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Long participated in the Aquaneer Vietnam project - researching a sustainable water filtration system using chitosan extracted from shrimp shells. The idea came from the fact that the Vietnamese seafood industry discharges millions of tons of shrimp shells every year, polluting the environment. The group turned this by-product into a scientific solution: a filtration system that can remove 97% of turbidity, 99% of impurities, and treat up to 500 liters of water per hour, enough to supply more than 1,000 people per day.

Pham Hoang Long (right) and his teammates took a souvenir photo with Ms. Nancy Conrad - founder of Conrad Challenge. Photo: NVCC

In the team, Long takes on the role of building financial models, planning revenue, costs, break-even points and commercialization roadmaps. “I want the project to not just stop at a scientific idea, but to be able to operate like a real business,” Long said.

This year’s competition attracted more than 4,700 teams from 50 countries, with the finals held at NASA Space Center Houston. In front of a panel of hundreds of experts from Intel, Amazon, Equinox, the Aquaneer team excelled in presenting and showcasing their products.

As a result, the Vietnamese team won two prestigious awards at the same time: Power Pitch (excellent presentation) and Glinsky Tabletop Expo Award (idea exhibition).

“The moment we stood on stage in Houston, in front of hundreds of engineers and scholars, we were both nervous and proud. It was an unforgettable experience,” Long recalled.

Success at the Conrad Challenge opens many doors. Long said that during the competition, Aquaneer Vietnam received attention from domestic chitosan manufacturing enterprises and many international investors. Mr. William T. Harris, CEO of the Space Center Houston, also expressed his desire to connect the project with potential businesses in Vietnam.

At the age of 17, Pham Hoang Long already has valuable baggage: successful community initiatives, speaking experience at the United Nations, and winning one of the world's leading scientific competitions. But Long still maintains a simple philosophy: "Love every moment of work".

Through his persistent steps, Pham Hoang Long is proving that the young generation of Vietnam is completely capable of international integration, not only with courage, but also with practical values ​​that contribute to the global community.

Le Thanh

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nam-sinh-viet-tao-dau-an-tai-cuoc-thi-conrad-challenge-2440200.html