HKUST Underwater Robot Competition 2024 Promotes STEAM Education and Inclusion among Youth and Educators

11 June 2024

The HKUST Underwater Robot Competition 2024, organized under the HSBC / HKUST Robotics For Youths Programme on April 20-21, offered a unique opportunity for over 200 primary and secondary school students and teachers from 30 different schools to enhance their robotics skills, collaborate across schools, and embrace diversity.

Supported by The Hongkong Bank Foundation and hosted by the Center for Global and Community Engagement under the HKUST School of Engineering, this annual contest aims to provide experiential learning in iSTEAM (inclusion, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education through robotics. It was launched in 2015 and has reached its ninth anniversary this year. It empowers HKUST undergraduates from various disciplines to mentor and guide Primary 4 to Secondary 3 students from diverse backgrounds, including the underprivileged, ethnic minorities, and students with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities. Teachers without prior knowledge in robotics or science were also welcome to join and experience the fun of building underwater robots with their students.

On the first day (April 20), participants attended a training workshop to gain fundamental knowledge of designing and controlling underwater robots. Using the knowledge, they designed and built their own underwater robots in teams to take part in the inter-school competition. At the competition, the robots needed to complete various underwater missions within a set time limit to achieve the highest score.

The next day (April 21) saw the joint-school competition take place. Three teams with different backgrounds (comprising both primary and secondary school teams) were grouped together to collaborate and undertake another set of underwater missions with their robots. A key feature of the program, this joint-school competition tested students’ ability to communicate and work effectively with people from a wide spectrum. Three Best Joint-School Inclusion Awards were finally presented to the teams that exhibited exceptional collaboration and teamwork.

Following the inter-school and joint-school competitions, the teams were required to showcase their robot design to a group of judges. The team with the most outstanding design was awarded the Best Engineering Award.

The participants also had the opportunity to view and learn about the robots built by different competition teams at HKUST.

The program concluded with an award presentation ceremony in the afternoon of April 21. The winners of the competition are as follows:

Champion	Tseung Kwan O Government Primary School
First Runner-up	St. Paul’s Convent School
Second Runner-up	Shek Lei Catholic Secondary School
Best Engineering Award	Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong
Best Artistic Award	Maryknoll Fathers’ School (Primary Section)
Best Teamwork Award	Shanghai Alumni Primary School
Best Joint School Inclusion Award	Group 1: HKSYCIA Wong Tai Shan Memorial College Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Primary School Ebenezer School Group 2: Shek Lei St. John’s Catholic Primary School Pooi To Primary School Hong Kong Sea School Group 3: Shau Kei Wan Government Secondary School Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary School Pui Ching Primary School

To further recognize participants’ effort, achievement levels of gold, silver, and bronze were awarded to 10, 13 and 7 teams respectively. Overall the teams demonstrated good teamwork, with three groups of school teams winning the Best Joint-School Inclusion Award.

The joint-school competition provided a chance for the students to engage in cross-school collaboration.

A team presented the design of their robot to the judges.

A student from one of the competition teams at HKUST introduced the team’s robots to the participants.

Prof. Mow Wai-Ho, Associate Dean of Engineering (Undergraduate Studies), School of Engineering, HKUST (third left), Ms. Bonnie Yip, Senior Corporate Sustainability Manager, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (fourth left), Prof. Tim Woo, Director of the Center for Global & Community Engagement, School of Engineering, HKUST (fourth right), Prof. Tsui Chi-Ying, Director of the Academy for Bright Future Young Engineers, School of Engineering, HKUST (second left), Prof. Ben Chan, Associate Dean of Students, HKUST, and Associate Director of Center for Engineering Education Innovation, School of Engineering, HKUST (first left), Prof. Yeung Sai-Kit, Associate Professor of the Division of Integrative Systems and Design, Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies, HKUST (third right), Ms. Celia Lee, Head of Communications, External Affairs & Development, Office of the Dean of Engineering, HKUST (second right), and Ms. Bonnie Ho, Senior Manager (Development), Development & Alumni Office, HKUST (1st right)

The championship went to Tseung Kwan O Government Primary School.

St. Paul’s Convent School won the First Runner-up.

Shek Lei Catholic Secondary School was the Second Runner-up.

Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong received the Best Engineering Award.

Maryknoll Fathers’ School (Primary Section) earned the Best Artistic Award.

Shanghai Alumni Primary School won the Best Teamwork Award.

The joint team of HKSYCIA Wong Tai Shan Memorial College, Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Primary School, and Ebenezer School received a Best Joint-School Inclusion Award. A total of three such awards were presented this year.

The joint team of Shek Lei St. John’s Catholic Primary School, Pooi To Primary School, and Hong Kong Sea School gained a Best Joint-School Inclusion Award. A total of three such awards were presented this year.

The joint team of Shau Kei Wan Government Secondary School, Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary School, and Pui Ching Primary School won a Best Joint-School Inclusion Award. A total of three such awards were presented this year.

About The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (https://hkust.edu.hk/) is a world-class research intensive university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. Over 80% of our research work were rated “Internationally excellent” or “world leading” in the Research Assessment Exercise 2020 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee. We were ranked 3rd in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2022, and our graduates were ranked 23rd worldwide and among the best from universities from Asia in Global Employability University Ranking and Survey 2021.

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