HKSTP organises EVTech Makerthon to showcase the first ‘Built and Designed in Hong Kong’ electric concept car

(Hong Kong, 20 September 2016) - Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (“HKSTP”) today concluded the ten-day EVTech Makerthon event that was hosted in Hong Kong Science Park. As Hong Kong’s first open hackathon revolving around electric vehicles, EVTech Makerthon rallied the city’s developers and start-up entrepreneurs to embark on the mission that is of significant importance – to create the first-ever 100% “Built and Designed in Hong Kong” electric vehicle. The creation – a working electric concept car – was showcased today, serving as a strong statement of Hong Kong’s technology development capability, as well as a promising preview of what home grown smart mobility technology may become in Hong Kong’s future. The electronic vehicle will be showcased at the FIA Formula E Hong Kong ePrix event later this year in October.

Organised in collaboration with MakerBay, the official education partner of this year’s FIA Formula E Hong Kong ePrix, and Arrow Electronics, the ten-day hackathon offered free seminars and workshops for participating innovators to learn all about electric vehicles. Following the lectures, participants worked in teams to work on the whole gamut of technologies found in an electric car, including Semi-Autonomous Car, Computer Vision, Mobile Application, Power Management, Artificial Intelligence, Renewable Energy, Intelligence Display, Infotainment and other technologies. In each category, one winning team was picked and have their technology embedded into an electric car prototype, which is being put on display at Hong Kong Science Park today.

Albert Wong, Chief Executive Officer of HKSTP, said: “We are pleased to join forces with MakerBay, Formula E and Arrow to shine a spotlight on innovative individuals in Hong Kong. EVTech Makerthon has been a fantastic occasion where talented minds, creative characters and experienced experts have come together to collaborate and make new advances in smart mobility technology. We are pleased to see their hard work and creativity come to life in the concept car. To HKSTP, robotics technology is one of our key technology platforms and has great potential in smart mobility. We hope that this event would spark new creative ideas and inspire more individuals and groups in Hong Kong to get involved in the development of technology related to smart mobility and smart city, and realise a better, greener and more sustainable future.”

Simon Yu, President of Arrow’s Components Business in the Asia-Pacific region said: “We are honoured to be a part of the event, facilitating knowledge exchange between innovative individuals in Hong Kong, and assisting them with hardware as well as our technical experience. With the range of hardware and tools we provided for the event, along with assistance of our engineering team, participants could easily and quickly develop the technology required for their category. We are proud that our own products helped power Hong Kong’s first locally developed futuristic open source concept car.”

Cesar Jung-Harada, Founder of MakerBay said, “It is terrific to see makers from different areas to join hand and create the first totally built and designed in Hong Kong electronic vehicle. Modern technology has empowered individuals and groups without much institutional or infrastructure support to create a number of technology products and solutions. This EVTech Makerthon demonstrates the possibility ahead and the capability the city has. MakerBay looks forward to spearheading more new projects that will bring positive changes to the society.’

Alan Fang, Chief Executive Officer of Formula Electric Racing (Hong Kong) Limited, said: “The excellent performance of this Hong Kong-originated EV is a great tribute to the innovative technologies created by local entrepreneurs. It is also the first of many demonstrations of two of our chief objectives for the inaugural Hong Kong ePrix: to showcase that we are all drivers of the city’s continued growth and to highlight the future of sustainable mobility.”

Resonating with the theme of today’s event, HKSTP will be entering into a new partnership with a bus company in Hong Kong. The deal entails the provision of an autonomous self-driving bus, which may be used by Park companies for the development of intelligent mobility technology with the aim to bring about efficient and safe EV bus driving and passenger experience in Hong Kong in future. By providing easy access to an actual working autonomous self-driving bus, HKSTP hopes to accelerate the development of smart mobility technology, facilitate useful data collection in local real-life scenarios, and promote wider adoption of intelligent mobility in Hong Kong.