News

University of Waterloo students win top prize at Walmart Green Student Challenge

University of Waterloo students win top prize at Walmart Green Student Challenge

Students take home $30,000 and $30,000 for school

Mississauga, Ontario, February 29, 2012 – The winner of the Walmart Green Student Challenge was announced today at the TMX Broadcast Centre in Toronto after a five month-long competition, and a compelling presentation to five of Canada’s top CEOs.

The University of Waterloo team—Arthur Yip, Jake Yeung, Alan Thai—came out on top with their idea of an integrated energy hub for retail distribution centres. The hub would integrate solar rooftop panels, be connected to the smart electricity grid to provide grid balancing and auxiliary services and produce net economic benefits estimated at $1.35 million per year over 20 years.

“The Walmart Green Student Challenge has been an incredible experience—from working with my team on the idea, to presenting to some of the biggest names in business and finally to winning,” said Arthur Yip, chemical engineering student at the University of Waterloo. “The Challenge really encouraged us to think about sustainable business from a different angle, because at the end of the day the idea can’t just save the environment, it has to be good for business.”

The University of Waterloo team beat out students from across the country with its integrated energy hub submission.

“I’m extremely proud of the team from University of Waterloo,” said Shelley Broader, CEO of Walmart Canada. “They are the next generation of business leaders and they will help change the way business is done by making it more sustainable while adding to the bottom-line.”

The University of Waterloo team faced off against teams from University of Cape Breton, York University, University of Western Ontario, and University of Calgary. The five semi-finalists presented their idea to a panel of Canada’s top CEOs, who decided the winner.

Full contest details and video from the event are available at www.sharegreen.ca/student. 

-30-

Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of 333 stores, employing more than 85,000 Canadians, and serving more than one million customers each day. The company's vision is to demonstrate environmental leadership by reducing the ecological impact of its operations through company-wide programs focused on waste, energy and products, as well as outreach programs that preserve and enhance local environments. Visit www.walmartcsr.ca for more company information or follow Walmart Canada on Twitter at www.twitter.com/walmartcanada.