Students from Northwest Polytechnic University, Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology earned the top three prizes in the 2008 Boeing Shanghai Challenge for their concepts about how to operate an aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in a more environmentally progressive fashion.

The Boeing Shanghai Challenge, hosted by Boeing [NYSE: BA], Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services, Tsinghua University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, invited teams of students from across China to prepare "green" concepts for the Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services MRO operation.

More than 35 teams from 10 top universities and five aeronautical universities in China participated. The entries were judged on creativity of solution, technical feasibility, depth and completeness of technical analysis, and clarity of presentation.

After a blind review by a panel consisting of Boeing executives and university faculty from participating institutions, the top five teams were invited to come to Beijing to make a final presentation to Boeing to determine the top three "all-around" winners. The winners received prizes of US$1,500, $1,000, and $750 at an award presentation ceremony on July 9 in Beijing. The three top winners were: Research on Green Disposal of Aging Aircraft by Northwestern Polytechnical University, Building an Environmental and Efficient MRO Supply Chain by Wuhan University and Environmental Progress and Practice: Improving the Environmental Effectiveness of Boeing Pudong MRO by Huazhong University of Science and Technology team.

Students from Tsinghua University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology won special awards for Technical Merit and Creative Merit for their respective projects.

"The Boeing Shanghai Challenge is an important milestone of Boeing's commitment to create an MRO business in China that reduces the environmental footprint of the existing MRO supply chain within aviation industry," said Per Noren, leader of Environmental Strategy for Boeing's Commercial Aviation Services group. "We will continue to cooperate with leading academic institutes to leverage the competence, analytical capacity, innovations, energy and skills of students and faculty members to create a better future for our world."