The Walt Disney Company (Hong Kong) and the teams of HKUST Engineering students receiving the first “Disney-HKUST Grant for Technology and Well-being” unveiled today their creative inventions designed to give back to the Hong Kong community. Student teams were given the mission in September 2015 to develop projects that improve the lives of people with physical disabilities, support local productivity, or promote health and wellness in affordable ways, as a core requirement for the grant application. They were also tasked to work within their resources and co-design with alumni mentors in giving their creations eye-catching and futuristic looks. The total grant for the initiative was USD75,000 or HKD580,000.

As the kick-off of the program in October 2015, eight selected project teams visited the Disney Hong Kong office to attend an exclusive creative overview presentation on how Disney turns its many stories and characters into products, and receive feedback on their initial project concepts from a Walt Disney Imagineering from Hong Kong Disneyland as well as a Creative Manager of the Disney Consumer Products division. The three distinguished projects highlighted at today’s event are: 1) The “Real-time Sign Language Translation Device”, inspired by the hand of C3PO from “Star Wars” (episodes I-VII) who is ‘fluent in over six million forms of communication’; 2) The “Gaze and Mind Controlled Robot Car”, which resembles the Sandcrawler vehicle (episode IV); and 3) The “Airship UAV Crop Doctor”, themed after the charismatic and mischievous astromech droid, R2D2 (episodes I-VII).

“Creativity is the heart of Disney and all that we do. We are incredibly impressed by the level of creativity and hard work that the young engineers teams have put into their projects in the past eight months, and their genuine passion for contributing to the community through creative technology,” said Marcus Wong, Director, Corporate Citizenship, The Walt Disney Company Hong Kong.

“We highly appreciate Disney’s grant support which not only diversifies our students’ learning experience, but also enables them to contribute to the society through developing innovative solution. Such community engagement experience forms an important part of the School’s well-rounded education, which seeks to nurture next-generation leaders,” said Professor Tim Kwang Ting Cheng, Dean of Engineering, Chair Professor of Electronic & Computer Engineering and Computer Science & Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The event also commemorates Star Wars Day on May 4, or “May the Fourth Be With You” – a twist on the iconic Star Wars phrase "May the force be with you", that is celebrated annually by Star Wars fans around the world and will be featured prominently across all social media platforms through the hashtag #StarWarsGivesBack. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” re-ignited the passion for the legendary franchise around the world with its US2B box office global success and a wellspring of content, products and experiences to follow. In Hong Kong, the city-wide, six-month long phenomenon was embraced by fans of all ages as illustrated by its HK85M box office achievement, the popularity of Jedi Academy at Times Square (July 2015); a prominent presence at the Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong Convention (July 2015); the biggest Star Wars fan parade in Asia held at Hong Kong Disneyland (July 2015); viral marketing campaigns featuring Hong Kong celebrities Louis Koo (October 2015) and Aarif Lee (May 2015); the record-breaking “Force Friday” midnight toy launch at Toys R Us (September 2015); and a multi-phase themed exhibition at Times Square (October 2015). Star Wars is one of the four key character franchises of The Walt Disney Company, along with Disney, Pixar and Marvel.

About Disney Corporate Citizenship
Disney believes that there are no limits to where creativity and imagination can take us. In our stories, we find examples of those inspired to envision a brighter tomorrow and the aspiration to make that dream come true. Our unique approach to citizenship is rooted in the entertainment that we create and the special relationship we have with kids and families around the world. Our assets and our reach provide us with an opportunity to inspire audiences everywhere to join us in taking action and caring for the world we share. This opportunity to inspire guides our work across citizenship. It is at the core of our citizenship mission to conduct our business and create products in an ethical manner and promote the happiness and well-being of kids and families everywhere.
Website: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/citizenship

About HKUST School of Engineering
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (www.ust.hk) is a world-class research university excelling in science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. The School of Engineering (SENG) is the largest of the five schools within HKUST. SENG is committed to providing holistic education and nurturing well-rounded graduates with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. It has a strong international reputation and consistently ranks high among major engineering schools around the world. In the 2015-16 Times Higher Education World University Rankings in Engineering and Technology, HKUST was ranked No.1 in Greater China and No.16 globally. In the QS World University Rankings by Faculty 2015 – Engineering and Technology, HKUST was ranked No.14.