Smart Baby Steps

The 2017 DreamCatchers’ 100K Seed Fund Competition attracted 104 teams made up of HKU students and young graduates, who were whittled down to

10 winners that each received $100,000 and mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs. The winning entries were wide-ranging, from software attached to a drone to inspect buildings, to a portable chip that provides real-time diagnosis of influenza, to a smart baby sock that detects a baby’s vital signs and alerts parents to any abnormalities. The latter, called Peacify, was led by graduate Alan Law Wai-lun. “DreamCatchers gave us the chance to talk to experts from the medical field, which helped us to think about the dimensions of our project. We also received positive comments and are looking to develop the next generation of our idea.” Peacify has been allocated space in the new iDendron centre on campus for new start-ups.

Being Skin Deep Pays off

HKU graduate Dr Hu Shuting has translated her research on molecular pathways and new ingredients for skin whitening into a promising start-up, SkinData Ltd. Dr Hu had expected to go into academia but in 2013, while she was still a student, she attended an international conference of cosmetic scientists and won the Henry Maso Award for Young Cosmetic Scientists. Cosmetic firms expressed an interest in her work but her supervisor, Dr Wang Mingfu, encouraged her to set up her own company. Through SkinData, she has successfully applied for a place in the HKU-Science Park Incubation Programme and, in 2016–17, for TSSSU@HKU funding. “It’s much more difficult than I expected to start up this company but I have learned a lot and there are many opportunities here,” she said.

Ready for Take-off

A team of third-year mechanical
engineering students won the Airbus Fly Your Ideas 2017 global student competition, which included a €30,000 prize and a trip to Airbus’s facility in Toulouse, France in May. Their winning idea was a private stowage compartment designed to fit under passenger’s feet. “We were influenced by the cramped spaces we have in Hong Kong and the tendency to make use of hidden spaces
in our homes,” team spokesperson Hayden Li said. They were able to develop their prototype further in Toulouse with advice from Airbus’s technicians and the use of a fully-equipped workshop. Airbus has since notified the team that it has brought their idea to its project development team for further investigation.