News & Stories

With so many in-person conferences and trade shows being canceled or moved online due to COVID-19, countless entrepreneurs including Justin CHAN, co-founder and CEO of biotech startup Gense Technologies, specializing in wearable wristband for hand gesture recognition, are forced to make pitches to investors, partners, and customers virtually to help their companies grow. Unfortunately, most of them are clueless about how to make a great first impression in online meetings, so HKUST’s Technology Transfer Center and Entrepreneurship Center stepped in to help them develop relevant skills.

The HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2020 has seen a record high number of participating teams at its 10th anniversary this year.  Three winning teams comprising students, faculty and alumni of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) will compete with finalists from seven other regions, including Macau, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Zhongshan and the Yangtze River Delta, in the Grand Final to be held later this year.

Benedict YUEN, our BBA Marketing 2012 graduate, is instantly recognizable in Hong Kong from his work as a TV anchor and a KOL (key opinion leader) on social media. This is all on top of having a talent and production company and hosting his own travel TV show, where he went everywhere from Russia to South Africa, in addition to starting his catering businesses.

Fion LEUNG, a 2010 business administration graduate at HKUST, knew she would not want a long-term career in the financial sector while she was working as an analyst at a global investment bank. Rather, getting more people into volunteering and nurturing children and young people gave her much more satisfaction than advancing her coveted career. She soon branched out and pursued entrepreneurship based around what she thought was meaningful, and sought greater exposure and ideas together with her friend WONG Suet-Yi. While attending networking events to make useful contacts and more friends on the same wavelength, both young ladies felt awkward about approaching industry leaders. And they realized that their feelings were common, like her peers, being fresh out of college and also desperate to build a career but having no mentors they could ask for advice.

Kachin WONG aspired to study Medicine while at secondary school, but his less-than-expected public examination results shattered his dream. The great disappointment, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He was admitted to HKUST to study biochemistry and cell biology and went on to complete an MPhil program in Technology Leadership and Entrepreneurship (TLE) this year. During his postgraduate studies, he came across a paper by Prof. SUN Fei of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) about smart hydrogels. Hydrogels, also known as soft matter in the medical world, are leading materials for biomedical applications such as drug delivery and stem cell therapy.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has set up HKUST Entrepreneurship Fund (“E-Fund”) to support the development of startups at HKUST – especially those in their early stage.  The fund seeks to facilitate knowledge transfer, promote entrepreneurial spirit among HKUST stakeholders, and bring about social and economic impact.   With an initial funding of HK$50 million committed by the University, E-fund is expected to invest into HKUST startup companies for the next five years. Donation in support of entrepreneurship in innovation and technology can also be allocated to the fund.  Selected companies may receive up to HK$2 million of investment from HKUST in support of activities including research and development, as well as business and market development. Startups featuring innovative technologies and/or business models would have advantages of being selected.

Three teams comprising students, alumni and staff of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) stood out among over 100 competing teams and garnered the top three prizes in the HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2019 (competition).  They will compete with the finalists from six different cities in the Grand Final to be held in Nansha in September. 

Have you ever struggled to catch a minibus to or from campus? It’s why a new “Finding Mini” app has been developed by HKUST alumni Jason Yuen, Simon Tsang, and current student Gash Tsui. “We deploy GPS module on each minibus, and sophisticated data algorithms developed by ourselves, with factors including weather, fluctuations of traffic, and real-time traffic conditions,” says Simon. While KMB buses already had an app for arrival times, the green minibuses did not. “We were very frustrated by this situation, because we could not compare arrival times between the double decker and minibus arrival times in Choi Hung, and the stops are on different ends of the street,” says Jason.