HKMU’s second Hackathon inspires students’ creativity in promoting sustainable development and enhancing care for older adults

News HKMU’s second Hackathon inspires students’ creativity in promoting sustainable development and enhancing care for older adults
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HKMU’s second Hackathon inspires students’ creativity in promoting sustainable development and enhancing care for older adults

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HKMU News Centre HKMU's second Hackathon inspires students' creativity in promoting sustainable development and enhancing care for older adults

HKMU's second Hackathon inspires students' creativity in promoting sustainable development and enhancing care for older adults

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Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU) recently hosted its second “HKMU Hackathon”, bringing together over 120 students from various departments to tackle real-world challenges faced by local enterprises. The event saw students collaborating and inspiring each other to design innovative solutions, with a particular focus on enhancing quality of care for older adults and promoting sustainable development in society through the cutting-edge technology, thereby nurturing an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset among the participants.

This year's competition, held on 7 and 8 January, attracted more than 120 students on 33 teams, representing a year-on-year increase of about 20%. The two themes of the competition, “Ageing Society” and “Sustainability”, focused on enhancing the use of wearable smart devices for older adults to improve their quality of life, and designing solutions for enterprises to collect and efficiently manage their tenants' carbon emissions data to foster joint efforts to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable development.

The first phase of the competition took place in November and December 2024. Students were offered a series of networking opportunities and company visits to nurture their creativity. During the main Hackathon Days on 7 and 8 January, the students were divided into groups and selected one theme from the following two options: “Ageing Society” and “Sustainability”. Five groups under each theme advanced to the final pitching stage. They competed for awards by submitting their projects and delivering presentations, and then answering the judges' challenging questions on the spot.

After a series of keen competitions, “Capybalalala”, a team of four students and graduates from the School of Arts and Social Sciences, the School of Education and Languages, and the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, was crowned the winner under the “Ageing Society” theme. They proposed designing smart underwear equipped with a tracking chip connected to an app, which enables carers to monitor the real-time location of the older adults suffering from dementia. It also features a built-in airbag that can be deployed in case of a fall, providing protection for the wearer.

The winner under the “Sustainability” theme was “CAOKIE”, a team of two students from the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Their solution incorporates Internet of Things (IoT) technology that uses sensors to monitor office temperature, electricity and water consumption for a building's tenants. It also employs artificial intelligence to generate carbon emissions reports and offers recommendations for reducing emissions. The solution also encourages the building owner to collect wastepaper from tenants' offices and collaborate with contractors to produce recycled paper for sale to tenants, thereby reducing carbon emissions and promoting resource recycling in the long run.

Prof. Ricky Kwok Yu-kwong, HKMU Vice President (Research and Institutional Advancement), expressed his gratitude to GE Healthcare and Chinachem Group for their support as collaboration partners of the “HKMU Hackathon 2025”. He appreciated their provision of real-world challenges faced by enterprises for students to tackle, offering opportunities for students to develop creative problem-solving skills.

Prof. Kwok noted that with the rapid advancement of technology and society, expectations for graduates have evolved, making learning experiences outside the classroom increasingly vital for students preparing to enter the workforce. He said he believed that the two days of intensive activities and training would foster an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset in the students and help them develop skills in time management, team communication, debating, presentations, and the ability to improvise. “The experience of teamwork and interaction with corporate management will enhance the students' problem-solving skills, equipping them to navigate our ever-changing society,” he said.

The judges for the event were Prof. Kwok, Mr Dicky Wong, Vice President and General Manager – Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, of GE Healthcare; Ms Sally Lo Wai-mun, Head (Solutions Hub) of The Hong Kong Council of Social Service; and Mr Ricky Cheng, Director and Head of Risk Advisory of BDO Risk Advisory Services Limited.

The Champion, First Runner-up and Second Runner-up of the “HKMU Hackathon” will receive HK$10,000, $6,000 and $4,000, respectively. The winning teams will advance to the final round of HKMU's “MetroChallenge 2025”, enjoy higher priority in the selection process for internship programmes organised by the University's Student Affairs Office, and be nominated to represent HKMU in other entrepreneurial competitions in Hong Kong and the rest of the Greater Bay Area.

To further support the entrepreneurial journey of the HKMU community, the HKMU Startup Fund (Acceleration Programme) is now open for applications from students, alumni, and academic and R&D staff who are ready to advance their startup businesses to the next level. Each selected startup can receive investment of up to HK$1 million.
Applications are now open until noon, 31 January 2025. Don't miss this opportunity to take the next step in your entrepreneurial journey.

Online Application Form: https://hkmu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2ugNKgQNN9jOGz4
Website: https://www.hkmu.edu.hk/hkmurdc/hkmuasf-application/

HKMU organises the second “HKMU Hackathon” competition.

Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU) recently hosted its second “HKMU Hackathon”, bringing together over 120 students from various departments to tackle real-world challenges faced by local enterprises. The event saw students collaborating and inspiring each other to design innovative solutions, with a particular focus on enhancing quality of care for older adults and promoting sustainable development in society through the cutting-edge technology, thereby nurturing an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset among the participants.

This year's competition, held on 7 and 8 January, attracted more than 120 students on 33 teams, representing a year-on-year increase of about 20%. The two themes of the competition, “Ageing Society” and “Sustainability”, focused on enhancing the use of wearable smart devices for older adults to improve their quality of life, and designing solutions for enterprises to collect and efficiently manage their tenants' carbon emissions data to foster joint efforts to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable development.

The first phase of the competition took place in November and December 2024. Students were offered a series of networking opportunities and company visits to nurture their creativity. During the main Hackathon Days on 7 and 8 January, the students were divided into groups and selected one theme from the following two options: “Ageing Society” and “Sustainability”. Five groups under each theme advanced to the final pitching stage. They competed for awards by submitting their projects and delivering presentations, and then answering the judges' challenging questions on the spot.

After a series of keen competitions, “Capybalalala”, a team of four students and graduates from the School of Arts and Social Sciences, the School of Education and Languages, and the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, was crowned the winner under the “Ageing Society” theme. They proposed designing smart underwear equipped with a tracking chip connected to an app, which enables carers to monitor the real-time location of the older adults suffering from dementia. It also features a built-in airbag that can be deployed in case of a fall, providing protection for the wearer.

The winner under the “Sustainability” theme was “CAOKIE”, a team of two students from the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Their solution incorporates Internet of Things (IoT) technology that uses sensors to monitor office temperature, electricity and water consumption for a building's tenants. It also employs artificial intelligence to generate carbon emissions reports and offers recommendations for reducing emissions. The solution also encourages the building owner to collect wastepaper from tenants' offices and collaborate with contractors to produce recycled paper for sale to tenants, thereby reducing carbon emissions and promoting resource recycling in the long run.

Prof. Ricky Kwok Yu-kwong, HKMU Vice President (Research and Institutional Advancement), expressed his gratitude to GE Healthcare and Chinachem Group for their support as collaboration partners of the “HKMU Hackathon 2025”. He appreciated their provision of real-world challenges faced by enterprises for students to tackle, offering opportunities for students to develop creative problem-solving skills.

Prof. Kwok noted that with the rapid advancement of technology and society, expectations for graduates have evolved, making learning experiences outside the classroom increasingly vital for students preparing to enter the workforce. He said he believed that the two days of intensive activities and training would foster an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset in the students and help them develop skills in time management, team communication, debating, presentations, and the ability to improvise. “The experience of teamwork and interaction with corporate management will enhance the students' problem-solving skills, equipping them to navigate our ever-changing society,” he said.

The judges for the event were Prof. Kwok, Mr Dicky Wong, Vice President and General Manager – Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, of GE Healthcare; Ms Sally Lo Wai-mun, Head (Solutions Hub) of The Hong Kong Council of Social Service; and Mr Ricky Cheng, Director and Head of Risk Advisory of BDO Risk Advisory Services Limited.

The Champion, First Runner-up and Second Runner-up of the “HKMU Hackathon” will receive HK$10,000, $6,000 and $4,000, respectively. The winning teams will advance to the final round of HKMU's “MetroChallenge 2025”, enjoy higher priority in the selection process for internship programmes organised by the University's Student Affairs Office, and be nominated to represent HKMU in other entrepreneurial competitions in Hong Kong and the rest of the Greater Bay Area.

To further support the entrepreneurial journey of the HKMU community, the HKMU Startup Fund (Acceleration Programme) is now open for applications from students, alumni, and academic and R&D staff who are ready to advance their startup businesses to the next level. Each selected startup can receive investment of up to HK$1 million.
Applications are now open until noon, 31 January 2025. Don't miss this opportunity to take the next step in your entrepreneurial journey.

Online Application Form: https://hkmu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2ugNKgQNN9jOGz4
Website: https://www.hkmu.edu.hk/hkmurdc/hkmuasf-application/

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