Tech competition addresses clean water

The 2nd Clean Tech Competition will address the urgent global problem of access to clean water this year, organizers announced in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

The competition was initiated by Applied Materials and the Center for Science Teaching and Learning in the United States, and carried out by Xi'an Education Bureau, Xi'an High-tech Zone Education Bureau and Xi'an Science and Technology Association in China.

The first Clean Tech Competition was held by Applied Materials in Xi'an in 2011 with the aim of inspiring the next generation of leaders and innovators in clean technology.

Themed as Clean Water for All, the outreach this year will be expanded from California's San Francisco Bay Area and Xi'an to Singapore. Student teams from junior and senior high schools, under the guidance of an educator, will identify a water access situation in their own communities or elsewhere in the world and present their unique solution to a panel of experts. Ten winning teams in each region will compete for cash prizes, culminating in three sets of winners and an array of creative solutions from three different global perspectives.

The 2011 inaugural challenge posed to young people was "Solar Solutions to the Rescue". Teams of students, under the guidance of their teacher or other adult team leader, designed a solar-powered solution to a basic human need identified in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Participants identified a situation, explored the issue and then presented their clean tech solution to a panel of industry and education experts for judging. The team from Xi'an Jiaotong University won the grand prize in China for their design solutions named Board Room for Solar Rescue.