Dr. Le Xuan Khoa shares his report at an international conference – Photo: K. LE
Recalling his childhood, Dr. Le Xuan Khoa said that he grew up without a father's warmth, relying on his mother's noodle stall. This didn't make Khoa feel sad or resentful, as his mother never let him lack anything, and he admitted that he was "quite carefree." He recounted:
– I did well in middle school, but in high school I became more interested in playing, only studying the subjects like math, physics, and chemistry necessary for the university entrance exam. In my free time, if I wasn't playing, I was practicing table tennis, as I was on the city's team. If I remember correctly, I only got… 1.5 points on my graduation exam in literature! (laughs)
Learn from every failure.
* Will studying be any better in university with your own "relatively carefree" approach to learning?
– After getting into my dream school, I allowed myself to "relax," and retaking courses and exams became a daily occurrence.
It wasn't until my sophomore year that I saw many of my friends with beautiful dreams, and they were gradually achieving them. I suddenly realized how much I had wasted my youth on my mother's hardships.
That moment made me determined to change, burying myself in books from early morning until late at night, even on weekends.
My grades gradually improved; I moved from a low ranking to the top of my class and received a scholarship. As graduation approached, I practiced my foreign language skills with the dream of studying abroad and learning from the wider world . And so I won a master's scholarship in Taiwan (China) and eagerly set off.
But my first year studying abroad was incredibly stressful. My supervising professor and I couldn't find common ground. After sleepless nights and feelings of despair, I finally decided to transfer schools. Luckily, I was accepted and graduated as valedictorian.
What have you learned from your failures or mistakes?
– I think every young person experiences some degree of failure; the important thing is whether we recognize it in time and learn from it. When I was in university, I only thought about choosing a major so I could get a job after graduation. Vision, purpose in life, ambition were quite luxuries for me.
It wasn't until I had the chance to read a good book about the abilities and ambitions of youth that I truly "woke up." Being at the top of my class didn't move me as much as overcoming my own limitations, learning to dream big, and seeing clearly the path to true maturity. I believe books are always an effective solution to many of the problems faced by young people.
Having failed in the early stages of my graduate studies, I realized I needed to do thorough research and choose the right mentor, rather than just relying on personal interests or preferences. And I understood that scholarships always come with a lot of pressure, not just benefits.
My only drawback was perhaps my lack of foresight when I was younger. My strengths, however, are that I've been independent since childhood and always eager to learn. Thanks to constantly listening and empathizing with life and people, I've built many quality relationships that have led me to success.
Dr. Le Xuan Khoa
The more startups we have, the better.
Despite his busy work schedule in the UK, he is passionate about research and technology startups in Vietnam. Why is that?
– Personally, I believe that for a society to develop sustainably, it needs more startups. My startup and my colleagues' startup are focusing on developing solutions to save energy, reduce carbon emissions, and maximize cost savings for businesses in the cold supply chain.
The main goal of the startup VOX Cool is to target Vietnam, a country severely affected by global warming. We are implementing a project in Ninh Thuan province, which is heavily impacted by drought and desertification. This project, titled "Solar-Powered Cold Storage and Advanced Storage Technology in Vietnam," will contribute to the economic and social development of the province.
Furthermore, Vietnam's cold storage market is poised for rapid growth with soaring demand, projected to reach approximately $295 million by 2025. However, this growth is hampered by a severe shortage of suppliers.
* What path are you and your colleagues taking in your solution?
– To address the major challenges of cost and environment, our start-up will develop cold storage technology using solar energy combined with thermal storage. From there, we will test a cold storage model that does not require a grid connection, with lower investment costs than similar systems using conventional energy storage solutions.
In addition to the technology developed with our research partners 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. Initial results have been very good, and we have also gained the trust of several investment funds and major start-up competitions.
A multi-talented son of Da Nang
Le Xuan Khoa graduated with a degree in mechatronics from Da Nang University of Technology. He received a postgraduate scholarship in Taiwan (China) and completed the program with distinction at the National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences before winning a doctoral scholarship in energy and construction engineering at Ulster University (UK) worth 4 billion VND.
He was awarded the prize for outstanding doctoral dissertation, passing numerous rounds of interviews to become a researcher at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Oxford. He is also the vice president of the Oxford University Energy Society and co-founder of VOX Cool, a cooling technology start-up aimed at reducing carbon emissions in Vietnam's cold chain supply. He is also a table tennis player who has won medals in Da Nang and nationwide.
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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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