The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is the first local university to co-host the “National Challenge Cup”, a prestigious competition branded as the Olympiad of Science and Technology for university students. HKUST held the newly-introduced Theme-based Competition of the National Challenge Cup in which students from various countries showcased their creative ideas and innovation solutions of developing Smart Green Cities.
The biennial National Challenge Cup is a mega contest in academic and technological innovation for university students in China. Every year, more than 2.5 million students from over 3,000 institutions nationwide compete in the Cup. HKUST will co-host the National Challenge Cup with Guangdong University of Technology (GDUT) this year, and it is the first time for a local university to co-host the event in the Cup’s 25 years of history. The new Theme-based Competition, also hosted by HKUST, added a different dimension to the National Challenge Cup.
The theme of the Theme-based Competition was ‘Smart Green Cities’. Students were required to apply their knowledge in science, technology, social-economics, urban planning, public administration etc. to propose innovative ideas and solutions to transform a city or part of a city in their home country to become a ‘Smart Green City’. More than 800 teams from Mainland China, Hong Kong and other countries including Russia, Thailand and Malaysia participated in the Competition, and around 40 teams were shortlisted to enter the Finals early this week.
A team of Southeast University clinched the Grand Prize with their proposal titled “Urban Traffic State Estimation and Distribution System based on Satellite Positioning Data of Public Transportation” while two teams from Nanjing University of Science and Technology and HKUST won the First Prizes.
Prof Joseph H W Lee, Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies of HKUST, said “The Theme-based Competition is a good opportunity for students to explore new and innovative ideas of a Smart Green City, with knowledge that one day in the near future they may be in a position to influence and contribute to the development and growth of their cities.”
Prof Kar Yan Tam, Associate Provost and Dean of Students of HKUST, said “The Competition provides a valuable and interactive platform for students to share and to learn from one another, across their different cultures and social-economic systems.”
The National Challenge Cup has turned into an iconic competition on science and innovation for university students since Tsinghua University first hosted the Cup. The Grand Final will be held in November 2015. The Cup is organized by the Communist Youth League of China, China Association for Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, All-China Students’ Federation and various government ministries. For more information about the National Challenge Cup, please visit: www.ust.hk/challenge_cup.
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