Engineering Weeks Encourage Reaching Out to Community Speech-Recognition Training Kit App Aids Hearing-Impaired Kids “Reaching Out to Community” was the theme of Engineering Weeks 2013, which took place from October 21 to November 4, 2013 under the aegis of the School’s Center for Global & Community Engagement (GCE). The focus was on encouraging engineering students to step out of the classroom and utilize their engineering knowledge in the community. An exhibition and a variety of seminars were held on campus during the period. Proceedings kicked off with an Engineering Education Forum cum Opening Ceremony on October 21. The title of the forum was “Empowering Engineering Students to Serve and Learn Today for a Better Tomorrow”, and featured four guest speakers, namely Mr Erwin Huang, CEO of WebOrganic, Dr Stephen C F Chan, Head of Office of Service Learning, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Samantha Wing Man Kong, Founder of Eldpathy Co Limited, former head student ambassador for the University and undergraduate student of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Yoga Y Nadaraajan, undergraduate student of Electronic and Computer Engineering, who shared their experiences and thoughts on servicelearning projects and their challenges. Student chapters took the opportunity to introduce the work of their professional organizations and promote their student activities with booths set up at the Engineering & Community exhibition. This provided an excellent platform for the organizations to reach out to students and help the latter understand the many and varied ways in which engineering can help in the community. The following two weeks were packed with seminars and sharing sessions, with a variety of guest speakers from professional organizations and NGOs, as well as HKUST alumni, invited to introduce the missions and projects of their organizations, and get over the message that engineering knowledge can be applied to different communities worldwide. GCE is a cooperative platform for university students, community organizations and corporate partners to exchange ideas and share experience on how engineering can help in society. Hearing-impaired children are now benefiting from a speechrecognition training kit app, developed by Prof Albert Wong, Prof Tim Woo and research assistant Kobe Lam, Electronic and Computer Engineering. Their “Auditory and Speech Training App” revolutionizes existing paper-based auditory training tools, thanks to Androidbased mobile technologies. The app recently received a Gold Award from the Web Accessibility Recognition Scheme 2014, co-organized by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) and the Equal Opportunities Commission. The app facilitates convenient home training and provides better support to parents and teachers. A child’s performance can be sent to therapists to evaluate the learning process, and the parents and children can also share their improvement through social media networks. This project was sponsored by OGCIO through a one-off scheme on digital inclusion mobile applications, and developed in collaboration with the Hong Kong Society for the Deaf. The app is free for download in Google Play keyword: 精靈小耳朵）. （ 25 IN FOCUS
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