UCL x SJTU Clean Energy Hackathon 2025
How do we achieve an equitable transition to clean energy? This is the task that 31 students from UCL and the China-UK Low Carbon College of Shanghai Jiao Tong University sought to take on through the inaugural cross university clean energy hackathon. Students spent two days channelling their knowledge about clean energy to generate practical solutions all the while developing valuable intercultural collaboration skills as they worked with colleagues across the world.
Working across the world on a global challenge
Students worked both in person, at their home institutions, and virtually in cross university working groups. Through a series of hybrid engagement activities students brainstormed, modelled and created engaging pitches that they delivered to a live audience. Their solutions had to be practical, consider points of equity, and have a robust scientific basis.
Students also had to navigate working in a cross cultural and interdisciplinary context. With students from different countries, speaking different languages and coming from different academic backgrounds their working groups simulated the real world experience of tackling global challenges together. One student noted:
“Cross-cultural communication extended beyond professional knowledge‚ it also included sharing personal experiences, cultural backgrounds, and food traditions. As a non-native English speaker, this experience has been especially valuable in preparing me for the world of work.”
(Shanghai Jiao Tong University Student)
Working across timezones, language barriers and cultural differences required the students to be flexible and adaptive when navigating challenges. Students reflected that while their learning about the topic area was insightful, the partnerships between their teammates was where the most unexpected insights came from.
“Participating in the hackathon was an incredibly inspiring experience, as I had the chance to collaborate with brilliant peers from SJTU and gain invaluable insights from mentors worldwide. I’m excited to carry these fresh perspectives into my sustainable energy research at UCL.”
(Michael, Winning team)
Getting the whole picture from real world experts
In addition to the range of perspectives represented by the participating students, the event also hosted a range of real-world experts, including voluntary and community sector partners such as Repowering London, Energy Saving Trust and Oil Change International. These organisations acted as a “living library” for students to source information, gain diverse international perspectives, and start to contextualise the problem within real world initiatives.
“It was great to hear the solutions people have in other countries to common challenges - this opened up my mind to seeing how different solutions exist based on varying local contexts.”
(UCL Student)
To deepen their experience and ensure that students got a range of perspectives as they hacked, the event hosted 3 mentor organisations as central partners to the event. The Centre for Sustainable Energy, our UK based voluntary sector partner, supports people and organisations across the UK to tackle the climate emergency and end the suffering caused by cold homes. We were also joined by two Chinese industry mentor organisations, Solar Power Glory, which uses innovative engineering to embed solar technologies in EVs and replace charging and Schneider Electric, an international leader in sustainable electric manufacturing also provided their perspectives and expertise throughout the event.
“I had the opportunity to communicate with professionals in the renewable energy sector, engage in cross-cultural collaboration, and gain many new ideas and multi-dimensional perspectives on problem-solving.”
(UCL Student)
Creating a pitch for social impactful solutions
The six groups developed a varied and diverse range of pitches focussing on different aspects of the challenge. Solutions ranged from a transition plan to support coal workers in the Shanxi province during fossil fuel phase-out to energy ownership models which would equitably distribute the benefits and harms of energy production. Across all pitches, teams emphasised the importance of uplifting communities historically marginalised by energy production and the opportunity to create a more equitable energy system.
The winning team comprised of postgraduate Anthropology student Sidhant Minocha and undergraduate Geography student Michael (preferred to be known by first name only), developed a methodology for ensuring ethical sourcing of lithium batteries for clean energy technologies. Their solution was holistic, wove in the expertise that the students had gathered from our real-world experts and carefully considered the impact of the solution.
“The winning group delivered an excellent pitch with a strong grounding in equity. They followed a clear logical flow in their visuals and had exceptional verbal delivery. We were impressed!”
(Feedback from judging panel)
The winning team will be reunited in London, as a delegation from SJTU will be joining the UCL Sustainability Conference in June 2025. Together the winning team will reprise their pitch to a wider audience and further solidify their findings together.
Hacking today, gaining skills for tomorrow
For the students, the hackathon was as much a place to flex their academic brains as it was to gain hands on skills to take into their future pursuits. With the hackathon under their belt, students can speak about how they’ve taken their university knowledge and skills to develop real-world solutions to a pressing crisis.
“I want to build my career in environmental policy and this hackathon provided the opportunity to give a hands-on solution to the challenges of energy transition.”
(UCL Student)
“The hackathon offered an energizing space to brew holistic ideas around sustainability for real-life situations. I’m grateful to the organisers for creating a space that brought purpose-driven people and companies together.”
(Sidhant Minocha, Winning team)
Climate change will affect us all, but future generations most of all. Students across the world are answering the challenge to the climate crisis by equipping themselves with the skills, perspectives, and relationships to be tomorrow's global climate leaders.