RMIT students’ international winning streak

RMIT students’ international winning streak

Winning three awards from two concurrent international competitions were what two RMIT Bachelor of Business (Economics and Finance) students Phan Le Minh An and Vuong Anh Chien have achieved in just four months.

While preparing for the national final of ASEAN Data Science Explorers 2021 with a data-driven proposal to tackle Goal 8, 11 and 13 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Minh An and Chien decided to team up with two other Bachelor of Business (Economics and Finance) students Tran Kim Huong and Rahul Sharma to compete at 3M Inspire Challenge.

“As the current President of RMIT FinTech club, I want to challenge myself and see how much I could take and still do well,” Minh An recalled.

As the Head of Business Department of FinTech club, it was the first time Chien got involved in a business case competition, and he simply said yes to Minh An’s invitation to accompany her with a “Why not?” attitude.

Minh An and Chien won big at the final round of both competitions for their outstanding proposal and presentation, and brought home the highest prizes.

“We were given so much freedom in choosing a real-life problem and how to address it,” Chien said. “It was very new to me, challenging and exciting at the same time.”

news-1-students-on-a-winning-strikeTeam Dastronaut of two RMIT Vietnam Bachelor of Business (Economics and Finance) students Phan Le Minh An (pictured left) and Vuong Anh Chien was crowned the winner of the national final of ASEAN Data Science Explorers 2021.

For the ASEAN Data Science Explorers (ASEAN DSE) run by SAP and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foundation, team Dastronaut of Minh An and Chien decided to develop an application named Trasure [aka. Trash is Treasure] as a sustainable supply of sorted waste from households and match it with the demand from companies to substitute for their current inputs.

“It can create a ‘symbiosis’ or an economically-viable circular economy,” Chien said. 

“According to United Nations Environment Programme, 100 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) are dumped in ASEAN land fields each year, while 90% of current material can be reused, re-cycled and composted.

“Future problems are already here.”

The winning entry from Minh An and Chien added to the record of RMIT Vietnam students being crowned champions three consecutive years at national rounds of the ASEAN DSE competition which aims at increasing digital literacy and cultivates a greater sense of responsibility and ownership of the region’s future.

news-2-students-on-a-winning-strikeTeam CHARMMM of four RMIT Vietnam Bachelor of Business (Economics and Finance) students (pictured from left and top down) Phan Le Minh An, Rahul Sharma, Tran Kim Huong, and Vuong Anh Chien won the Vietnam national championship and the first runner-up title at the regional round of 3M Inspire Challenge.

The 3M Inspire Challenge is on the hunt for great ideas in Innovation, Sustainability, and Technology to create a more positive world and add value to 3M's business and customers.

Team CHARMMM of four RMIT Vietnam students formed by Minh An and Chien entered the challenge with a 3M 360° Virtual Store idea which will give customers a fully immersive experience, complete with interactive 3D products, virtual tours, and science and community activities to engage customers.

“Our virtual store features, including 360 view and 3D objects, AI tour guide, and pop-up description, can help 3M convey the sustainable/innovative value of its products better as well as giving customers a brand-new virtual reality (VR) experience to make the process of finding products more tailored and interactive,” Minh An explained.

“It can be applied post-COVID to integrate online and offline store to improve customer experience significantly.”

Team CHARMMM was praised for their detailed implementation plan by many judges and took home the first runner-up tittle at a very competitive regional final recently.

The duo is very grateful for the mentoring that they received throughout the preparation for both competitions.

“Immense support and worthwhile feedback from our RMIT seniors and lecturers, and our industry mentors, helped us sharpen our ideas and bring it to life,” Minh An said.

Minh An and other five RMIT students from FinTech Club have just won the theme prize "Identity & Privacy" in the international round, in addition to being the first runner-up of the national round of the International Blockchain Olympiad 2021 with a Blockchain project that combats child trafficking. The competition has attracted 600 teams from 59 countries.

Return to their normal role, the RMIT FinTech club current President and Head of Business Department are now busy planning their next major club event in semester 3 2021, the FinTech Blockchain Forum.

Story: Ha Hoang

15 October 2021

Share

  • Sustainability
  • Achievements
Engage

Related news

rmit-research-exploring-knowledge-management-enablers-towards-attaining-sustainability-goals-in-vietnamese-family-businesses.jpg

Sustainable family businesses begin with knowledge
Icon / Small / CalendarCreated with Sketch. 30 Oct 2026

RMIT Vietnam research finds family businesses can strengthen sustainability by managing knowledge more effectively, using leadership, trust and accessible digital technologies.

Street-side shop with a vendor seated under the shadow of an umbrella beside a display of household goods, snacks, and packaged items in a residential neighborhood.

A new heat map helps Vietnam prepare cities for a warmer future
Icon / Small / CalendarCreated with Sketch. 28 Oct 2026

As Vietnam faces the prospect of another El Niño cycle, the risks of extreme heat are rising. RMIT Vietnam researcher Dr Tran Duc Trinh has shown that some urban neighbourhoods face far greater heat exposure than others, highlighting the need for targeted, data-driven responses to protect the most vulnerable residents.

Students sitting at computers during the hackathon

RMIT Hackathon 2026 seeks safer AI for low-resource languages
Icon / Small / CalendarCreated with Sketch. 26 Oct 2026

Students from Vietnam, Australia and Malaysia came together to tackle a big challenge in AI: making AI systems safer, more accurate and more reliable for low-resource languages.

Vi speaking at a lectern

A future in business, inspired by creative industries
Icon / Small / CalendarCreated with Sketch. 23 Oct 2026

From leading media and music clubs in high school to studying business at RMIT, scholarship winner Nguyen Khanh Vi hopes to help creative ventures build sustainable futures.

Load more +