It never hurts to ask. Sometimes, you’ll get a no. But sometimes, you’ll get a yes, which can lead to a defining research trip across the world—as five George Washington University students found out last March.
Since 2023, members of Compass: Impact Consulting, a GW organization where students serve as advisers to social enterprises and nonprofits seeking funding from impact investors, have provided services to SandiSolar+, a solar company that harnesses AI to enhance energy efficiency.
On a call last fall, a representative from SandiSolar+ informed GW Compass students that they were opening a new headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, a hub for high-performing tech startups. The representative ended with a standard but longshot pitch of “If you’re ever in Thailand, we’d love for you to visit, and we’ll show you around.”
“At first, it felt like a nice hospitality gesture,” said then-Compass president Saiyam Shah, who just graduated in May with degrees in international affairs and international business. “But then I started thinking, ‘What if it’s possible?’ You never really know until you try.”
Shah thought the best chance would come from SandiSolar+ expressing themselves that the GW students’ presence mattered. So, he asked the Thai-based company’s chief marketing officer, Emma Zhou, to write GW a letter persuading the university to support an in-person visit.
Zhou said yes and wrote the letter. Shah and Compass explained to GW that they wouldn’t just be going there to visit their client—it was about creating a broader learning experience for student consultants, especially given AI’s global emergence.
“We started asking: where is the intersection between AI and energy? And more importantly, what does that look like outside the U.S.? Is Southeast Asia innovating in a way we can learn from?” said Shah, who presented his organization’s case to both the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Center for International Business Education and Research (GW CIBER) in the School of Business. “We didn’t know the answer, so we wanted to explore that in person.”
The Compass team, which wound up consisting of Shah and fellow students Ada Hopkins, Moshka Karuturi, Katherine Nguyen and Soryn Kim, got its funding and figured out travel and research logistics for its March 8-15 stay in Thailand’s capital city during GW’s spring break.
Once in Bangkok, the GW Compass team realized the insights they discovered could only come from being there in person, underscoring the effort to make the trip possible. Aside from visiting SandiSolar+’s new headquarters, the team also visited the offices of consulting companies, energy organizations and academic institutions. For example, at, Chulalongkorn University, they saw a real-time energy trading system where different university buildings trade energy with each other.
They also saw the effects of foreign investment, or lack thereof, in terms of infrastructure as they visited a water energy company that had recently had its aid funding pulled back, altering how they could conduct their operation. Seeing that geopolitical impact was eye opening, Shah said.
The group also attended a tech development conference that featured expertise from several Southeast Asian countries that have emphasized building data centers to support AI, making sure the energy powering those centers is green.
“That made me optimistic,” Shah said. “It’s clear that in some parts of the world, there’s a strong commitment to using renewable energy for future technologies.”
Seeing this work up close and in person inspired the Compass team members to think differently about how global systems work and what role they might play in shaping them.
“As a first-year student, I never imagined I’d gain such hands-on exposure, exploring renewable energy innovation while connecting with Southeast Asian culture,” Nguyen said. “I’m truly grateful for an experience that pushed me to think globally, collaborate meaningfully and engage more fully with the issues I care about.”
When the group of five GW students weren’t fully entrenched in the intersection of AI and renewable energy, they immersed themselves in the Thai culture and enjoyed the food and navigating the water taxi to and from their destinations. They were appreciative of the friendly nature of the local residents, which they saw firsthand when a large group effort was needed to find a lost cellphone left on a water taxi. No worries, it was found safe and secure.
They are grateful for the efforts made by SandiSolar+, as well as partners such as Deloitte and the Royal Thai Embassy’s Office of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, and the various groups at GW, including GW CIBER, SGA and the Division for Student Affairs, which worked to make the journey possible. GW Compass is now in the process of consolidating their findings into a comprehensive report for the future.
An in-person visit made all the difference for these students now inspired to use their newfound knowledge as tools in their own careers. Shah encourages other likeminded groups to make the ask. It never hurts.
“If you believe the trip is worth taking, and you know there’s a lot to be learned, just keep pushing,” he said. “Planning won’t be easy. But it’s worth it.”
