Three teams of Vietnamese university students will compete with 21 teams from other countries in an international autonomous vehicle competition organized by Bosch in Romania in May.

Three Vietnamese teams advanced to the finals of the Bosch Future Mobility Challenge 2023 (BFMC), which will take place in Romania in May.

The teams include The Newbies from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, CEEC-UIT from the University of Information Technology under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City, and LH-CDC from Lac Hong University in Dong Nai Province.

BFMC is an international autonomous vehicle competition for students organized by the Bosch Technical Center in Romania since 2017.

Every year, the competition invites student teams from all over the world to develop autonomous driving and connectivity algorithms on 1:10 scale RC car models provided by Bosch, 

The cars run in an environment that simulates a miniature smart city.

The participants are assisted by Bosch experts and faculty members at their schools to develop algorithms related to autonomous cars, and come up with a plan for self-driving cars.

In 2023, 119 teams from universities around the world registered to compete in the BFMC. 

After the interview round, 74 teams met the requirements and received a 1:10 scale RC car model kit sponsored by Bosch to develop the algorithm.

Based on the videos, the judges selected 24 teams to compete in the world finals at the Bosch Technical Center in Cluj Napoca, Romania in May.

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Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, also known as Shark Thuy, chairman of Apax Holdings JSC, the owner of the APAX Leaders English language center chain, on Wednesday promised to refund prepaid tuition fees to parents but he did not give the specific time for the refunding.

Thuy on Wednesday afternoon met with parents in Ho Chi Minh City for the first time since the start of APAX Leaders’ employee salary debt and tuition fee scandal.

Thuy said he needed more time, claiming that refunding the tuition fees at a difficult time of APAX Leaders would put students at a disadvantage.

“We are giving the priority to the early reopening of English language centers. This is also the best way for APAX Leaders to fulfill its commitments to parents,” Thuy added.

APAX Leaders will determine the numbers of parents who will let their children continue learning at APAX Leaders centers and those who wish to withdraw tuition fees.

“It is hard to concurrently do the two jobs,” Shark Thuy said.

“We need parents’ tolerance.”

APAX Leaders CEO Nguyen Anh Tuan said APAX Leaders will resume the operation of 30-33 centers nationwide in the first phase, including four to five centers in Ho Chi Minh City.

At least nine other centers will be reopened later, Tuan claimed.

In late April, 10-12 centers will come back on stream as per the road map for the second phase.

An additional eight centers across the country will resume their opreations between late June and early July so that all APAX Leaders centers can be back active by the end of this year, Tuan noted.

He informed that APAX Leaders has identified over 1,350 students who have not completed the classes that they had paid for and the identification process is ongoing.

The chain receives parents’ information between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm every day at an APAX Leaders center on Phan Xich Long Street in Ho Chi Minh City.

“We are actively reviewing all English language center operation processes and regulations and ensuring human resources at the centers. However, the process may take about three to four months,” Tuan said.

Earlier at the meeting, T., whose child used to study at an APAX Leaders center, said he has lost faith in APAX Leaders.

He already paid nearly VND100 million (US$4,224) in tuition fees but his child has not been arranged into any class for over half a year.

For the past three months, T. has contacted APAX Leaders many times but he has yet to be refunded.

Meanwhile, the studying schedule has been repeatedly delayed due to the center chain’s so-called restructuring.

“I just need the refunds,” T. underscored.

H., another parent, said, “Each family has their own circumstance. We have a simple order that our money be returned.”

Meanwhile, N., whose child used to study English at the Him Lam campus of the APAX Leaders chain, wanted to know the refund plan.

“We borrowed loans from banks to pay the tuition in advance, so we do not accept your vague answers. I need a specific time frame for the refunding,” said K., the father of a student.

Earlier, many parents had accused APAX Leaders of appropriating tuition fees as the chain accepted the tuition for long-term courses but failed to run classes.

Many former employees also accused the chain of owing them their salaries.

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An Giang University, located in the namesake province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, has managed to grow ice plants, an edible plant of Japanese origin, in the school’s net house after a decade of efforts, according to the school’s president Vo Van Thang.

Japan’s Saga University earlier provided the seedlings of ice plants, aka Tsuburina, for An Giang University to research and trial growing the plant, as part of an agricultural cooperation project between the two universities.

“It’s been around ten years since we came to Saga University and started our cooperation project,” Thang recalled.

“Our efforts to grow ice plants failed multiple times due to unsuitable climate and soil conditions.

“Therefore, we continued to study and adjust our methods to grow the plant after each failure.

“This is the first time that the plant has grown healthily in the school’s net house.”

Ice plants are edible and can be used in the cosmetics industry.

Further, it is capable of absorbing salt in the soil and is beneficial to the Mekong Delta region, which is affected by saline intrusion and climate change. Besides, ice plants are rich in nutrition.

Given the benefits of the plant, An Giang University opted to research and grow it on a trial basis, Thang said.

Saga University and some Japanese prefectures are home to many ice plant farms. The plant sells for around US$80 per kilogram in Japan.

Following the successful cultivation of ice plants at An Giang University, the school is set to expand the growing scale in the net house to examine the adaptability of the flora.

Growing the plant outside the school’s net house may be risky and cost a lot of money.

Hence, this can be done only after the expanded cultivation in the net house proves effective and enterprises make investments in the project, Thang said.

Earlier, a public organization in Vietnam reportedly piloted growing ice plants to no avail.

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