UIC SIFE team won 3rd place in the national competition that was held on May 22 to 23 in Shanghai. In addition, the team was given the special Environmental Friendly Award, beating teams from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Beijing Normal University, Zhongshan University, and University of Hong Kong.
Our team went through three rounds of competition to qualify for the final competition. It lost by 2 votes for second place. A group of 50 judges came from multi-national companies such as Johnson Controls, Wal-Mart, KPMG, Dell and 3M. Our students were offered internships by Johnson Controls.
The team started the planning and organization of the project, raised funds for their activities, and delivered the project all on their own initiative, with minimum guidance from teaches.
Executive Vice-President Prof. Kwok Siu Tong said:" They have demonstrated well the philosophy and results of experiential learning we have been advocating in Whole Person Education: learning through experience and applying the reflective results of learning to their life. They integrated their knowledge of volunteer service, environmental awareness and experiential art, as well as used their team building experience to map out a sustainable environmental design business for the village women in Huitong next to the campus. This is exactly what we are looking for in genuine student creativity."
"They have made a national name for the College. For an institution that advocates outcome-based learning, UIC is very proud to see this achievement." He also sends his appreciation to Dr. Karen Lee, the team advisor, and other colleagues who have provided occasional advice to them.
