| BUDAPEST, HUNGARY—August 26, 2009—GE Energy announced the first-year winner of its unique contest for European university students, “How Can You Make Your Campus Greener?” at an award ceremony in Hungary. Team KNEPW, comprised of students from the Warsaw University of Technology in Poland, was selected from three finalists in this year’s ecomagination Challenge for its self-generating combined heat and power system (CHP). The winning project has the potential to support new energy policy in Poland, which emphasizes development of distributed energy sources, usage of low-emission fuels, and co-generation. As the winner, Warsaw University of Technology will receive up to 25,000 Euros in funding for the project’s actual implementation. Team INSA Lyon from Lyon University in France received second place honors and Loughborough Dreams from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom placed third. "For our team, the GE ecomagination Challenge was a unique opportunity to run our own engineering project—not only as a pure exercise, but knowing it could actually be implemented. Our goal was to create a concept that was financially feasible,” said Adam Rajewski, co-leader of the winning team. “We also believe that having a power station on our campus will be a useful tool for both teachers and students to learn. Having won the Challenge, we hope to see the results of our work in real life— probably something every engineer desires.” The ecomagination Challenge is a technology development contest focused on driving energy efficiency and emissions reductions through actual deployment of newly designed projects created by undergraduate and graduate engineering students attending European universities. Participants had until May 1, 2009, to submit their projects, which were aimed at developing innovative and groundbreaking ideas that can positively impact their campus, from an ecological viewpoint. This year, 32 projects were submitted. “We greatly welcome GE Energy’s efforts in engaging young people to be creative in their work. The energy sector is a backbone of economic development and must lead the way in thinking green. GE Energy’s ecomagination initiative is a way to change people’s mindsets about developing new technology towards a better world. I am convinced that such an investment is well worth it," said Professor Krzysztof Badyda, vice dean for teaching of the faculty of power and aeronautical engineering, Warsaw University of Technology. Team KNEPW, from the Warsaw University of Technology in Poland, has created a self-generating CHP system based on a gas reciprocating engine and, in this project, the team proves that it is environmentally and financially justified in comparison to purchases of heat and electricity generated by coal CHP plants in Warsaw. This project demonstrated that along with decreasing noxious gases emission, a CHP plant also can present financial benefits. “It was inspiring to see that all the teams understood the concept and the aim of the challenge: creating ecologically friendly and energy-efficient solutions for their environment. We are pleased to support these young Engineers, who worked together effectively as a team on their projects and who share GE’s vision of a greener world,” said Rod Christie, president for Central & Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS, GE Energy. To learn more information about the projects, please visit http://www.makeyourcampusgreener.com. Ecomagination is GE's commitment to imagine and build innovative technologies that help customers address their environmental and financial needs. It is both a business strategy to drive growth at GE and a promise to contribute positively to the environment in the process. About GE EnergyGE Energy (http://www.ge.com/energy) is one of the world’s leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies, with 2008 revenue of $29.3 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy works in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels. Numerous GE Energy products are certified under ecomagination, GE’s corporate-wide initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental challenges. About GEGE is a diversified global infrastructure, finance and media company that is built to meet essential world needs. From energy, water, transportation and health to access to money and information, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.ge.com. GE is Imagination at Work. For more information, contact:
Kathleen Noonan |
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