20 students. 5 countries. 4 teams. 48 hours. 1 challenge.

That challenge? To create a Sustainable Manufacturing Factory of the Future.

The excitement is building as Dassault Systèmes prepares to host the Manufacturing in the Age of Experience event in Shanghai. Global manufacturing leaders will participate in a two-day interactive learning expedition focused on sustainable manufacturing. Part of the event is a Hackathon Challenge: four international student teams designing factories for sustainable manufacturing and then presenting their projects to the audience of industry executives.

Twenty promising students from all over the world are now preparing for their journey to China, where they will take part in the two-day challenge. They have been assigned to teams with a mix of students from different countries, universities and backgrounds. Participants have already met virtually on social media and will meet in person for the first time in Shanghai. It will be interesting to see how they collaborate and innovate together as they create their sustainable manufacturing vision.

The workforce of the future is a key element of sustainable manufacturing, which is why students were invited for this Hackathon Challenge. Creating sustainable experiences is a complex process, requiring a diversity of knowledge and know-how. Using these skills will enable our teams to innovate, solve problems, reduce waste and define solutions which help companies be sustainable.

For the Hackathon Challenge, the students will have a virtual environment to work in: five Dassault Systèmes academic roles on the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform, DELMIA 3DLean, laptops, and a work space to apply their knowledge and creativity during the 48-hour competition!

The teams are tasked to propose unique and inspiring solutions of what the factory of the future will look like. They must focus on one of three areas for their project:

• The Environment
• The Factory
• The Workers

All are key factors for a sustainable future.

Finally, all four teams will present their projects to our Manufacturing in the Age of Experience audience, who will select the winner with their votes. Who better to be the panel of judges than 200 global manufacturing leaders?

Stay tuned as we show each team pitch its project, and find out who will be the winner.

Best of luck to all of the teams!