In June 2018, a team of four undergraduate students – Nguyen Hoang Yen Khanh, Luu Thai Quang Khai, Tran Vo Thanh Tu and Rahul Ravindranath – were awarded the first runner-up in the final round of the world’s largest business case competition for undergraduate students, the HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition in Hong Kong. In under three hours, the team successfully prepared and analysed a real business case and proposed a strategic plan to address the issues, which was then presented to a panel of judges in a 20-minute presentation.
Three months later, two teams of business students from RMIT Vietnam secured the first and second places in the national round of the ASEAN Data Science Explorers competition. Nguyen Van Thuan and Mai Thanh Tung, who make up the winning team Pangolin, then competed at the regional round and received third-place from Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information for their project, Conquering the Waves of Global Trade. These students got an opportunity not only to enrich their experience and critical thinking skills through data analytics during the event, but also to raise their awareness about the importance of data analytics in the digital age.
RMIT Vietnam students also achieved impressive results for creative thinking and social awareness.
Two teams from the University took home gold and silver in the Integrated category, Student League of the Young Spikes 2018 competition. The teams The Mothers (made up of Le Hong Nhung and Luong Thu Trang) and Lemonade (consisting of Nguyen Hoang Chau Anh and Duong Bao Ngoc) created integrated campaigns to encourage parents to support their children in sports and physical activities.
In the national round of the 48 Hour Film Project, the short film titled Vọng (created by an RMIT Vietnam team named Dementia) won second place and four additional prizes, including Best Poster Design, Audience Award, Best VFX and Best Direction. The 48 Hour Film Project was established in 2001 by Mark Ruppert and Liz Langston in the USA, and brought to Vietnam by Australian event producer Ross Stewart in 2010. Since then, RMIT Vietnam students have continuously entered this competition – which has been described as one of the most creative and challenging competitions in the country – and brought home many awards which has helped them to develop high profiles in the industry.
Giving back and connecting with the community
Organising a charity concert as a gesture of giving back to the community has become a tradition of RMIT Vietnam’s Current Media student club during Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year). After two successful events two years in a row, the club organised a fundraising event entitled Tết Không Làm Gì? (‘I do nothing at Tet?’) to support underprivileged children at the Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics in Hanoi.
“Through this event, we wanted to remind young people about the traditional values of Tet, and that those ‘ordinary’ things we do with our families during Tet are actually precious,” Nguyen Nhat Anh, a member of Current Media, explained.
The music concert raised 25 million VND for ten young patients who suffer from diabetes, chronic hepatitis, malnutrition and other conditions.
