Mondialogo Engineering Award
The Mondialogo Engineering Award was established by Daimler and UNESCO to encourage cooperation and dialogue between engineering people from different countries and cultures, working together across continents on a joint project activity. The award invites student engineers from universities around the world to apply for Award. It was supported by the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO), who promoted it to its national members and took part in the judging panel. The scheme has closed with Daimler and UNESCO ending their partnership in 2010. It is not clear if an alternative sponsor or scheme will be created.
Previous Rounds
The first round of the competition 2005 ended with a symposium in Berlin while the second round in 2007 ended in Mumbai. In its first round, the Mondialogo Engineering Award brought over 1,700 young engineers from 79 countries together to work on engineering solutions tackling poverty and promoting sustainable development in all regions of the world. While in the second round 3200 students from 89 countries participated.
Goals
The Mondialogo Engineering Award invited engineering students in developing and developed countries to form international teams to create project proposals that address the United Nations Millennium Development to 1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; 2) achieve universal primary education; 3) promote gender equality and empower women; 4) reduce child mortality; 5) improve maternal health; 6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; 7) ensure environmental sustainability; and 8) develop global partnerships for development. Mondialogo encourages proposals that will improve the quality of life in the developing world, particularly poverty eradication and the promotion of sustainable development.
Procedure
International Project Teams eligible to apply for the Mondialogo Engineering Award consisted of two student groups from two higher education establishments, with one group from a developing country and the other from a developed country. The Mondialogo Internet Portal www.mondialogo.org acts as a contact centre for groups to meet each other, aiming to function as a virtual office for inter-group communications. Teams had until April 2009 to develop and design their project proposals. An international jury then assessed the entries and decide on the awarding, which formed part of a festive ceremony in latter 2009. Key factors in the assessment are sustainability, technical quality, feasibility of the project proposals and the quality of the intercultural cooperation between the teams.
Criteria
The following criteria were taken into consideration when assessing the final project proposals: Quality of project – quality of analysis and understanding of a relevant problem, quality and innovativeness of project idea and design, and quality of presentation of the project proposal Degree to which the project addresses the Millennium Development Goals, especially poverty eradication and sustainable social development Relevance of project proposal in mitigating negative impacts of climate change Feasibility of the proposed project – demonstration of the practicality of implementing the proposed project, and benefit to local community; Quality of Dialogue – level of communication within project teams and student groups, balanced involvement of both student groups
Awards
Ten Mondialogo Engineering Awards of € 20,000 went to teams with the top project proposals, with an Honourable Mention and € 5,000 earmarked for twenty more teams. Representatives of the 30 finalist project teams (consisting of one member of each student group two members of each International Project Team) were invited to the Mondialogo Engineering Award Symposium. At the Symposium, each team made a presentation of their project proposal, followed by an Award Ceremony where the Mondialogo Engineering Awards and Honourable Mentions were announced. All participating teams that submit project proposals received an official certificate in recognition of their achievements and their commitment to the worldwide exchange of knowledge and intercultural dialogue. Additionally, Daimler and UNESCO publicized the 30 winning projects.
Eligibility to participate
Students from all fields of engineering were eligible to register for the Mondialogo Engineering Award. All members of the two (or more) student groups must have been officially registered as students at universities, technical colleges or similar institutions through to May 2009. Employees of commercial institutions and companies or students above 35 years of age were not eligible to participate.