The International Economic Forum of Americas held its annual Toronto Global Forum from October 17 to 19, 2022, where a team of 5 students from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) won the event’s case competition.
The group consisted of Abdul Sami, 21, Raiya Momin, 20, Schaff Mirza, 19, Ahmed Jarar, 22, and was led by Sumraiz Ghumman, 21.
The competition consisted of undergraduate participants from all over the world, all of whom were required to come up with a novel solution for electric vehicle mining which would be both commercially viable as well as environmentally sustainable within five days.
The winning team incorporated contemporary technologies such as Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE), geothermal energy, and blockchain in the value chain to achieve such a solution.
Ahmed Jarar explained, “The operational synergy gained through implementing DLE with geothermal energy leads to our solution having both lower costs as well as a nominal carbon footprint.”
Abdul Sami remarked, “It was an immense learning experience” during the winners’ interview with the organizer of the conference, Joseph Clark.
These students availed the opportunity to interact with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and government ministers from throughout the Americas and encouraged investors to move towards sustainable financing and put their faith, as well as money, into cleantech start-ups for the future of the world.
Schaff Mirza particularly emphasized the need to create an environment for businesses for themselves to realise the importance of their compliance with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles.
When asked about how these students would encourage their colleagues to also work towards sustainable practises in business, Sumraiz Ghumman quoted Albert Einstein in saying,” Imagination is everything, it is the preview of life’s coming attractions”.
This moment of victory was of particular pride for these young academics, as Raiya Momin stated, “It was an honour to represent it, particularly as a Pakistani, given that our country has made outstanding efforts to combat unprecedented climate challenges.”
All five students are members of the directorate in the student-run LUMS Consultancy Group, which works towards creating a positive impact for companies, both locally and internationally.
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