Three City University of Hong Kong (CityU) students were among the final winning teams at this year’s UAiTED (University Alliance in Talent Education Development) Innovation Competition, an annual event designed to facilitate high-tech collaboration among member universities in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.

This year’s competition, which focused on developing novel solutions aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, brought together 282 students from 16 member universities around the region. A total of 32 multi-disciplinary teams presented innovations championing one of three themes: Healthy Lives, Education, and Ecosystem for Innovation.

Manson Mok Man-tsun, from the Department of Accountancy, and his team won the Gold award for their e-waste recycling programme, “G.M.E.” (Green Metropolis Enthusiast).

The project supports a smart and expandable e-waste management ecosystem through collection and processing technologies that incentivise recycling.

Manson made use of his accounting knowledge learnt at CityU to help make financial analysis and forecast market trends.

“E-waste is a global problem, and working with a global team to improve the effectiveness of collecting e-waste is meaningful. I am happy that our hard work has paid off with this award,” he said.

Another team, including Ken Kwok Kai-tat, from the Department of Accountancy, and Natalie Tam Yee-lei, from the Department of Public Policy, won the Bronze award for their exercise mobile app “aiiiii.care”.

The app can be used year-round and encourages people to be physically active through rewarded exercise sessions led by professional trainers.

Ken regards the competition as a culturally eye-opening experience, as he worked with an international team with members from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.

“We spent months working on the projects with our teammates and mentor. The meaning of the award for me was the recognition of the effort we put in and the acknowledgement of the value of our ideas,” said Natalie.

UAiTED is a leading independent Asia-wide membership organisation, whose aim is to prioritise the collaborative efforts of strategic network members to provide unique opportunities for international young talent to achieve their potential.