LAM Students Win Young Enterprise Project with Solar Panel Cleaning Concept

The finals of the twelfth edition of the Young Enterprise Project (YEP), organised by Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg (JEL), took place on Thursday 20 April 2023 at Tero River House in Luxembourg-Clausen.

Of the 22 initial teams, eight had been selected to participate in this final.

A total of 95 students from eight different Higher Technician Certificate (BTS) classes from five secondary schools (Ecole de Commerce et de Gestion - ECG, Ecole d'Hôtellerie et de Tourisme du Luxembourg - EHTL, Lycée Technique d'Ettelbruck - LTEtt, Lycée Guillaume Kroll - LGK and Lycée des Arts et Métiers - LAM) participated in the YEP 2022-2023.

As part of the YEP, teams of students must create a business plan around an innovative idea for a product or service. Students study the feasibility of the project using tools such as the empathy map and the "Business Model Canvas" and develop a prototype and a commercial video.

Each team is accompanied by a coach from the professional world. Several training sessions were carried out this year to support the teams in the initial phase of their project, for example on topics such as the "Business Model Canvas", website and video creation and financial management.

Dominique Moeremans (ECG), Imene Guidoumi (Accenture), Gilles Feipel (Cactus), Thibaut Ciccone (nyuko), Bastien Berg (Luxembourg City Incubator), Philippe Linster (House of Startups) and Rudy Mazzalovo (Accenture) formed the jury of the 2022-2023 edition and supported and evaluated the participating teams throughout the year.

For the final, each team had four minutes to present their project to the jury.

"I loved this experience, the young people are super motivated, they give [...] an energy and a dynamism that you don't often have. [...] And I'm super happy to be part of the jury," commented first-time jury member Imene Guidoumi.

The "Bright Cleaning" team composed of LAM BTS "Connected Buildings" students Julian Rousset, Max Rollinger and Paul Parries won the first prize. The concept is based on an autonomous system that allows solar panels to be cleaned without human intervention. This project makes it possible to keep the maximum efficiency of the solar panels. The team expressed their wish to continue this project and they are already in contact with various actors of the Luxembourg ecosystem in order to realise their idea. The winning team received support from their teacher Djamel Fellag and coach Luigi Losavio.

The "Honger & Méi" team, made up of EHTL students Cheyenne Christnach, Gaia Rimi and Sarah Nockels, won the second prize. Their goal is to reduce food waste and allow students to have quality meals at a lower cost. Their project consists of an online platform, used by restaurants, and an app where restaurant owners can make leftover dishes available at a reduced price to interested students. They received support from their teachers Claudine Thoma and Bruno Macias and coach Arnaud Hodjigue.

The "De Lux Kebs" team, initially composed of four girls from the ECG but of which Laura Holter was the only one to have continued the project, won the third prize. With the support of "Lëtzburger" as a coach, the team want to market a high quality kebab produced only with Luxembourg products. Their offer includes a traditional (vegetarian) kebab as well as a sweet kebab, a novelty in Luxembourg. The team received support from their teacher Laurent Schiltz and coaches Thibault Corrion and Felix Clement.

During this edition, the jury also awarded a special prize, a "Coup de coeur", to the "Poseidon Hydrogen" team from LTEtt. The team, made up of Aaya Zein, Alexandre Bremer and Ben Ewertz, aims to developing a type of hydrogen generator that does not yet exist on the market.

Moreover, Josyane Lechiombeka ("LIEGHT" team, LGK) and Paul Parries ("Bright Cleaning" team, LAM) received the "Alumni Leadership Award" from the alumni committee. This prize rewards students who have demonstrated leadership qualities.

YEP is aimed at young students in BTS and university aged nineteen to 30 years old. Teams of two to five students are formed at the start of the school year. Together, they must create a business plan based on an innovative product or service idea. During the school year, the projects are presented three times in front of a jury made up of experts from the educational and professional world and potential investors. The winning team will have the opportunity to participate in the European "GEN-E" final organised by Junior Achievement Europe.