The winning entry of the Google Solve For X Competition at HKUST has become Hong Kong and Mainland China’s first project being accepted by Google on its Solve For X platform. An awards presentation ceremony of the competition was held on 18 March by the School of Engineering (SENG) to recognize the outstanding work of the faculty and student awardees.

An open moonshot platform powered by Google, Solve For X is a place to hear about and discuss radical technology ideas for solving global problems. It encourages moonshots where radical solutions that sound like science fiction yet can practically be put into reality through technology breakthrough are put forward to assist with problems affecting millions of people.

Collaborated by Google and HKUST, the joint competition brought this exciting moonshot platform to Hong Kong for the first time and provided an ideal platform for HKUST students and faculty across disciplines and schools to engage in intellectual and research discussions. The competition aims to promote entrepreneurship, encourage wider academic and research exposure outside classrooms and labs, and better prepare students in their career and professional development. Participants were able to enjoy the privilege to introduce and discuss their radical technology ideas through the competition.

The competition was well-received by the whole university, with 14 projects submitted by 40 students, faculty and external parties. The “Winner” Award went to Prof Michael Sung, Senior Lecturer of Electronic & Computer Engineering and Director of the Center for Industry Engagement & Internship, and his team on their project “Mass-Volume Graphene Production Using Waste Carbon Emission Harvesting to Enable EV Battery Technologies”. The team was chosen for their original, innovative and influential research achievements for knowledge in battery technologies. In addition to winning in the HKUST competition, their project is the first from Hong Kong and Mainland China being accepted by Google onto its Solve For X platform. The team will have the opportunity to get international exposure with experts and scholars from all over the world through attending the Solve For X Annual Conference organized by Google. Such achievement of SENG faculty is set to further strengthen Google’s support to HKUST as its strategic regional partner through this competition and beyond.

Along with the winner award, four Honorable Mentions were selected. All of them were chosen under a rigorous review by the HKUST Solve For X Selection Panel, which comprised faculty and alumni from different schools. The selection was based on three criteria of equal weighting: (i) A huge problem that affects millions or even billions of people; (ii) A radical science-fiction-like innovative solution to that problem; & (iii) A technological or scientific breakthrough that enables that solution and indicates that it could really be brought to life. Only the proposals which fulfilled the three criteria were selected.

The winning team was awarded with a cash prize of HK$38,000, and HK$8,000 each to the teams of the Honorable Mention.

Note:
SENG = School of Engineering
IPO = Interdisciplinary Programs Office
SSCI = School of Science