HKUST Organized First Robot Explorer Cup to Promote STEAM Education and Leadership
Over 110 students from 16 primary and secondary schools had a chance to work with their teammates to build robots while enriching their engineering knowledge at The First Robot Explorer Cup, which was organized by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and funded by Bank of China (Hong Kong) (“BOCHK”).
The year-long program, started in December 2021, is tailored to primary and secondary school teachers and students who are passionate about STEAM education. Through providing collaborative learning experience to students, the program aims to arouse their interest in science, mathematics, and engineering as well as fostering their empathy toward others.
Over the course of the program, students first participated in a series of online workshops to learn about programming and 3D printing and build their robots. They later attended a boot camp at HKUST campus in May to demonstrate and test their robots. The competition day was held on July 30-31, where students put their robots to the test and attempted to complete various missions on the game field.
Winners were announced at the award presentation ceremony held on August 13 at Citi Lecture Theater at HKUST. TWGHs Yau Tze Tin Memorial College was crowned Champion, while Pui Tak Canossian College and Lok Sin Tong Lau Tak Primary School were named 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-up respectively. St. Margaret’s Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School won the Best Engineering Award, and Best Team Spirit Award was granted to the 2nd Runner-up, Lok Sin Tong Lau Tak Primary School.
Overall, students were excited to have a chance to work with their teammates as well as to build, make, fix, and control a robot, while teachers also agreed the competition provided opportunities for students to enrich their knowledge in engineering and develop critical thinking skills and creativity.
“One of the goals of this competition is to bring together students with different backgrounds and learning abilities. These include students with special educational needs, grassroot students, and ethnic minorities. Through this common platform of “technology”, we are all in one big community, and we need to understand that and work together to create a better community,” said Prof. Bertram SHI, Acting Dean of Engineering.
Prof. Tim WOO, Director of Center for Global & Community Engagement, shared, “Championship was not the only goal of the competition. By collaborating with others and appreciating everyone’s effort in the workshops and competition, participants can develop their empathy toward others.”
Dr. Rocky CHENG, Chief Information Officer, and Ms. Angel YIP, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility Office, both of BOCHK, the supporting organization of the program, attended as guests of honor.
Dr. Cheng remarked, “The support from Bank of China (Hong Kong) to the Robot Explorer Cup aims to provide collaborative learning opportunities to youth of different backgrounds and integrate STEAM education into daily lives.”
In addition to benefitting the participants, the program also created educational and leadership opportunities for HKUST students to contribute to the community. Thirty HKUST students from various disciplines were charged with different responsibilities, ranging from hosting online workshops and devising game design to serving as competition judges
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