Team Lorax emerged winners at inaugural CHS competition

September 24, 2021

Two of the judges (in blazers) listening to the presentation from a finalist group member.

Team Lorax emerged victorious at the recently concluded College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) Case Competition 2021 which was held on 20 September 2021.

The competition series was created as a platform for students to apply their curriculum learning by formulating solutions for real-world issues that require an interdisciplinary approach.

The finals were organised in a hybrid format, comprising both physical and virtual audiences. CHS Co-Deans, Prof Robbie GOH and Prof SUN Yeneng attended the ceremony.

Finalist team Environmentalist presenting on stage.

The 10 finalist teams, handpicked from an initial group of 37 submissions, were tasked to present their solutions to the problem statement “How to Encourage Electric Vehicle Ownership in Singapore” in front of a judging panel comprising Prof KOH Lian Pin from the Department of Biological Sciences and three representatives from our competition partners KPMG Singapore, Schneider Electric, and the Ministry of Transport (MOT).

[From left to right] Prof Sun, Prof Goh, Mr Mark Tan (MOT), Mr Satya Ramamurthy (KPMG), with virtual judges, Mr Adrian Duque (Schneider Electric) and Prof Koh Lian Pin.
Team Lorax impressed the judges with their solution of an integrated Electric Vehicle charging app and a detailed multipronged consumer education programme. They walked away with the top prize of S$1,500, while Team EVginners and Team BESties came in first and second runners-up, winning S$1,000 and S$500 respectively.

Team Lorax’s team leader said, “Our case, rEVolution, is a two-pronged approach to boost EV adoption in Singapore. It addresses the three main barriers to EV adoption, namely a lack of charging infrastructure and range anxiety; consumers' unfamiliarity with EVs; and the high cost of EVs compared to its ICE (internal combustion engine) counterparts. Our EVolve app addresses the first barrier by making EV charging effortless. The app will be developed through a public-private partnership between GovTech, the Land Transport Authority and a private player with relevant expertise. Next, our rEV Up consumer education campaign addresses the other two barriers to EV adoption by educating the public, establishing an EV experiential centre, partnering car retailers to advocate for EVs, and sustaining change in the future through collaborations with driving schools.”

Winning Team Lorax with CHS Co-Deans, Prof Robbie Goh and Prof Sun Yeneng.

The members of the top three teams hail from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Engineering, Yale-NUS College and NUS Business School, a testament to the interdisciplinary nature of the competition.