It may sound too good to be true “? the chance to turn an academic project into a monetary prize, national recognition and maybe even a job. The catch? Your project must have something to do with energy efficiency.
Undergraduate post-secondary students in all disciplines and trades are eligible to enter the Energy Ambassadors student competition. Sponsored by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the competition aims to increase awareness of energy efficiency as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
“This program is an excellent way to focus our best young minds on energy efficiency and climate change, one of the great challenges facing Canada and the world in the 21st century,” said the Honourable R. John Efford, Minister of Natural Resources Canada.
One of the incentives for entering the competition is the monetary reward: each winner or winning team receives a cheque for $1,000. Energy Ambassadors also earn a free trip to Ottawa, where they will meet with energy-efficiency leaders from industry, utilities and the non-profit sector at the presentation of Canada’s Energy Efficiency Awards, and then make poster presentations on their projects.
“We will consider any scholastic project that has some connection to energy efficiency or reduced energy use,” says Colleen Paton, Director of the Outreach and Information Division of NRCan’ Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE). “It could be a completely new idea, or maybe just a new twist on an old idea. The key is that the project has to have an energy-efficiency angle.”
To find out more about the competition, visit the OEE’s Web site at http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca. The deadline for submissions is January 16, 2005, and the winners will be announced in March.
