Students from Over 80 Secondary Schools Showcase Innovative Technology Business Proposals at STEM+E Competition

The STEM+E Competition 2022, an inspiring contest jointly organised by STEM+E Consortium, Cyberport and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, concluded last Saturday (18 June) with an award presentation ceremony for the winning students.

Hong Kong, 20 June 2022 – The STEM+E Competition 2022, an inspiring contest jointly organised by the STEM+E Consortium, Cyberport and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), aims to prepare students for an ever-changing world by nurturing their creativity and problem-solving skills. The competition concluded last Saturday (18 June) with the enthusiastic participation of over 400 students from more than 80 secondary schools. 

Under the guidance of start-ups from Cyberport and HKSTP as well as business leaders, the students formed into groups to tackle social concerns such as “Waste Reduction and Management” and “Health and Well-being” by leveraging innovative technologies. Two champion teams selected from the Entrepreneurship Track demonstrated the lease of smart trekking poles that can reduce hiking accidents, and the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to automate energy conservation in schools. 

Addressing society’s pain points with creative solutions

The competition connected the participants with 14 Cyberport and HKSTP start-ups, as well as a group of business leaders. A total of 92 teams were formed by students from a wide array of schools, with the teams divided into an Entrepreneurship Track and a Venture Track. The teams on the Entrepreneurship Track were matched with start-ups that shared their self-developed technology solutions, entrepreneurial experience and industrial knowledge, enabling students to utilise their solutions to come up with creative business proposals. The Venture Track allowed its teams to employ technologies already on the market to devise their own plans. Teams on both tracks received recommendations and guidance from business professionals acting as mentors. 

The Entrepreneurship Track saw two teams, Stickerz and i-campus, honoured as champions. Stickerz turned their start-up’s smart canes, which are equipped with fall detection, automatic notification and location tracking, from aids for the elderly to trekking poles for hikers, while adding more features such as a buzzing device. This modified trekking pole can reduce accidents that leave hikers stranded for long periods before rescue. Meanwhile, i-campus noted the high ratio of electricity costs to schools’ total expenses, utilising their start-up’s IoT technologies to devise a smart solution that can help schools to monitor and regulate their electricity usage automatically, reducing electricity costs.  

Cultivating digital savviness leads to future opportunities

Prof. Joseph Koc, convenor of the STEM+E Consortium, said, “As the competition enters its fourth year, the number of participating schools has increased from an initial five to over 80 this year, breaking our record. Thanks to enormous support from Cyberport, HKSTP and the business community, these students are provided with valuable opportunities to enrich their tech knowledge, learn from business consultations, and enhance their soft skills including creative and critical thinking, resilience, and perseverance. All of these skills represent big steps for them in preparing for the future.” 

Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport, said, “Dwelling in the digital era, younger generations need to be creative and digitally savvy in order to capture the opportunities offered by this ever-changing world. It is our pleasure to partner with the STEM+E Consortium and HKSTP again for this competition. Given the competence of start-ups from both Cyberport and HKSTP, we are confident that the students has learned a lot about emerging technologies and industries. We are also happy to see that the students can apply what they have learned to help solve issues in the real world, using creative and entrepreneurial thinking and technological solutions. Through this competition, we hope to ignite more students’ interest in innovative technologies, and to inspire more rising talent.” 

Eugene Hsia, Chief Corporate Development Officer of HKSTP, said, “Children are our future. We are accountable for shaping how the next generation thinks, learns, and subsequently impacts the world. At HKSTP, we believe that the seed of curiosity and creativity planted today will blossom into innovations for the future. The STEM+E Competition is a powerful learning platform co-created by HKSTP and Hong Kong Cyberport - the two largest local I&T ecosystems. In the most collaborative fabric, we want to light a fire in our children’s hearts and prepare them to become the city’s I&T leaders of tomorrow.”

Three-month event teaches technology and business knowledge

The competition was launched as a three-month event in March of this year. All participating teams were required to deliver a business proposal addressing the themes of “Waste Reduction and Management” or “Health and Well-being”. The final contest was held at Cyberport on 28 May, while the award presentation ceremony was staged at HKSTP last Saturday. “Inspired by the start-up to solve problems with technologies and creativity, we came up with the idea of optimising their smart canes’ functionalities, so that we could expand their market from just the elderly to include hikers,” said Stickerz’s representative. 

“Thanks to our mentor’s guidance, we now understand how to streamline our solutions from a business perspective so as to clearly and effectively present our work to potential business partners with an increased success rate,” said i-campus’s representative.   

Since its inauguration in 2019, the STEM+E Competition has provided opportunities for students to develop their skills through start-up sharing sessions, business consultations and workshops, enabling them to generate high-tech business plans that address specific social issues. The finalists were given a chance to present their plans to a judging panel consisting of investors, business leaders and academics. Through this contest, students learn about innovative technologies as well as the application of high-tech solutions in dealing with social issues. They also work as a team to transform creative ideas into practical high-tech business proposals. 

Appendix 1:  List of winning teams

Appendix 2:  List of participating start-ups