CUHK Business School Teams Grasp Top Awards at National Entrepreneurship Competition
CUHK Business School students brought home four Silver awards in the recent “Entrepreneurship Youth” China College Students’ Entrepreneurship Competition 2016.
Six teams from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have recently won top awards in the “Entrepreneurship Youth” China College Students’ Entrepreneurship Competition 2016 (“創青春”中航工業全國大學生創業大賽2016). CUHK was also named one of the 20 best performing higher education institutions and has grasped the Grand Prize（優勝盃）in the competition.
This year, the “Entrepreneurship Youth” China College Students’ Entrepreneurship Competition 2016 attracted a total of 110,000 project submissions from more than 2,200 higher education institutions in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Out of the 399 projects selected to enter the final competition, a total of 24 teams/projects (54 students) from 11 universities and colleges in Hong Kong were selected to participate in the competition by Hong Kong New Generation Cultural Association, a charitable organisation. All 24 projects won awards – two gold, 21 silver and one bronze in the final competition held at The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China（電子科技大學） in Chengdu, Sichuan from November 15-20.
Among the CUHK teams, four of them have student team members from CUHK Business School and they brought home four Silver awards in all the three major categories, namely “Challenge Cup” National Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Planning（創業計劃競賽）, Entrepreneurship Practice Challenge（創業實踐挑戰賽）and Public Welfare Entrepreneurship（公益創業賽）.
The Silver award winning project, “R-Guardian – Smart Personal Belongings Solution”（守護者科技——智能化隨身物品方案）, comprises of CUHK Business School student Eric Lau Pak-lam, (Insurance, Financial and Actuarial Analysis [IFAA], Year 5) and his partner. The project invents chips that can be inserted in personal belongings, like purses, wallets and umbrellas. Customers can locate their lost belonging and have a better chance to retrieve them by using mobile app that connects with the chips. The project successfully attracted an investment worth of 10 million yuan ($1.45 million US dollars) from a Sichuan company during the competition.
Eric Lau, who is responsible for R-Guardian’s marketing promotion and business planning, indicated that: “By taking part in startup competitions, we got useful advice from professional judges and investors which is fruitful for refining our business model. However, we understand that by executing the idea and trying it with the real market is the only way to turn your idea into a business.”
Other projects winning Silver Awards included “Knowledge Vending”（知識售賣機——My知識）by Kelly Lau Ka-yu (Global Economics and Finance [GEF], Year 2), Amy Ng Wai-lam (Integrated BBA [IBBA], Year 2), Serene Tsang Yuk-ting (GEF, Year 2) and Sherry Wong Tsz-ching (IBBA, Year 2); and “Yolo Getaway” (一鍵旅遊[悠樂達人]) by William Wang Chak-wai (Quantitative Finance [QFN], Year 5), James Mui Ka-chiu (IFAA, Year 5) and their partners. The project “Getsby – Find Your Talent, Get Your Hobby (Mobile Application)” (GETSBY嘉比 [你的興趣班配對助手][手機應用程式]) by Philip Chan Ho-ting (Quantitative Finance and Risk Management Science [QFRMS], Year 3) and his partner also won a Silver Award.
Kelly Lau, team leader of the Knowledge Vending project shared her experience of taking part in the national competition: “We are more than grateful to have this precious opportunity to compete in this grand National Final. Engaging ourselves in the idea exchange with mainland young entrepreneurs was fruitful and rewarding. We were impressed by their well-designed and sophisticated charitable projects!”
List of all awarded projects by CUHK Business School students:
| Category | Award | Project Name | Student Name | Major |
| Entrepreneurship Practice Challenge | Silver | R-Guardian – Smart Personal Belongings Solution |
Eric Lau Pak-lam | IFAA, Year 5 |
| Public Welfare Entrepreneurship | Silver | Knowledge Vending | Kelly Lau Ka-yu Amy Ng Wai-lam Serene Tsang Yuk-ting Sherry Wong Tsz-ching |
GEF, Year 2 IBBA, Year 2 GEF, Year 2 IBBA, Year 2 |
| “Challenge Cup” National Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Planning | Silver | Yolo Getaway | William Wang Chak-wai James Mui Ka-chiu |
QFN, Year 5 IFAA, Year 5 |
| Silver | GETSBY – Find Your Talent, Get Your Hobby (Mobile Application) |
Philip Chan Ho-ting | QFRMS, Year 3 |