Dr. Le Xuan Khoa shares his report at an international conference – Photo: K.LE
Talking about his childhood, Dr. Le Xuan Khoa said that he did not have the warmth of a father since he was a child, growing up from his mother's noodle stall. That did not make Khoa feel sad, because his mother did not let her son lack anything, and he admitted that he was "quite carefree". He said:
– I studied well in middle school, but in high school I loved to play, only studying the math, physics, and chemistry subjects needed for the university entrance exam. In my free time, I didn’t go out to play, but I played table tennis because I was on the city team. If I remember correctly, I only got… 1.5 points in the literature graduation exam! (laughs)
Learn from every failure
* Is there anything more positive about studying in college with the way of studying that you also admit is "quite carefree"?
– After getting into the school I wanted, I gave myself a break. Retaking classes and retaking exams happened like clockwork.
It was not until I was in my second year that I saw many of my friends having beautiful dreams and gradually achieving them. I suddenly realized that I had wasted my youth on my mother's hardships.
At that moment I decided to change, burying myself in books from early morning to late night, even on weekends.
My grades gradually improved, from being at the bottom of the class I moved to the top of the class and then received a scholarship. When I was about to graduate, I practiced foreign languages with the dream of studying abroad, to learn knowledge of the big world out there. And I won a master's scholarship in Taiwan (China), and eagerly set off.
But the first year of studying abroad was stressful. My professor and I could not find a common voice. After days of tossing and turning and even breaking down, I finally decided to transfer schools. Luckily, it was approved and I graduated as valedictorian.
* What have you learned from your failures or mistakes?
– I think every young person will fail more or less, the problem is whether we realize it in time and learn from it. When I was in university, I only thought about choosing a major so that I could get a job after graduation. Vision, purpose in life, ambition were quite a luxury for me.
It was only when I had the chance to read a good book about the abilities and ambitions of youth that I was able to “awaken”. Being at the top of my class did not move me as much as the fact that I had surpassed myself, dreamed big and clearly saw the journey to true maturity. I think books are always effective solutions to many problems of youth.
Having failed in the early stages of graduate school, I realized that I had to research carefully and choose the right advisor, not just based on my personal preferences or interests. And I knew that scholarships always come with a lot of pressure, not just benefits.
The downside is probably that I lacked foresight when I was young. The upside is that I consider myself independent since childhood and always open to learning. Thanks to constantly listening and empathizing with life and people, I have many quality relationships that lead to success.
Dr. LE XUAN KHOA
There should be as many start-ups as possible.
* Despite his busy work schedule in the UK, he is passionate about research and technology startups in Vietnam. Why?
– Personally, I think that for a society to develop sustainably, many start-ups need to be born. My start-up and my colleagues are focusing on developing to solve the problem of saving energy, reducing carbon emissions and saving maximum costs for businesses in the cold supply chain.
The main focus of the start-up VOX Cool is on Vietnam, which is severely affected by global warming. We are implementing a project in Ninh Thuan province, which is severely affected by drought and desertification. The project is called “Cold storage using solar energy and advanced storage technology in Vietnam” and the implementation will contribute to the economic and social development of the province.
In addition, Vietnam's cold storage market is expected to grow rapidly in the future with soaring demand, expected to reach about 295 million USD by 2025. But this development is hindered by a serious shortage of suppliers.
* What is the path that you and your colleagues are aiming for in your solution?
– To solve the major cost and environmental challenges, our start-up will develop cold storage technology using solar energy combined with thermal storage. From there, test a cold storage model that does not require the power grid, with lower investment costs than similar systems using conventional electricity storage solutions.
In addition to the technology developed with our collaborators who are researchers at Oxford University, we will develop a community cold storage model to meet the storage and business needs of small-scale fishing and aquaculture households. The initial results are very good and we have also received trust from a number of investment funds and large start-up competitions.
Multi-talented son of Da Nang
Le Xuan Khoa graduated from the Department of Mechatronics at the Danang University of Technology. He received a scholarship to study for a master's degree in Taiwan (China) and completed the program with honors at the National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences before continuing to receive a scholarship to study energy and construction at Ulster University (UK) worth 4 billion VND.
He was awarded the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award and passed many interviews to become a researcher at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Oxford University. He is also the Vice President of the Oxford University Energy Society and co-founder of VOX Cool, a cooling technology start-up aiming to reduce carbon emissions in Vietnam's cold supply chain. He is also a medal-winning table tennis player in Da Nang and nationwide.
Tuoitre.vn
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tien-si-37-tuoi-o-oxford-tam-nhin-muc-dich-song-tung-xa-xi-doi-voi-toi-20240627090737008.htm
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