HK students crowned in international science competition

Jointly organised by The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, the Education Bureau, the Hong Kong Science Museum and supported by the Innovation and Technology Commission, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, The Hong Kong Young Academy of Science, Hong Kong Design Institute and Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Lee Wai Lee), Hong Kong Student Science Project Competition (HKSSPC) 2023 sent 2 representative teams to the International – World Innovative Student Expo (iWISE) 2023 in London, United Kingdom from 14 to 21 August. The teams competed for top innovation prizes in the science competition with more than 57 projects from nearly 28 countries and regions.

Projects of iWISE 2023 can be divided into three major categories: STEM, Talent, and Art. Each category selected the Champion, First Runners-up, Second Runners-up, and handed out Gold, Silver, Bronze and Merit awards.

The Hong Kong students triumphed with their impressive showings at the Awards Ceremony. King’s College, were crowned Champions in the STEM category and won the Overall Second Place of iWISE 2023, with their “AgNPs and Natural dye-sensitized TiO₂ NPs-catalyzed photo-oxidation in food waste treatment and its potential application in H₂ production enhanced by Venturi effect” project.

Lung Kong WFSL Lau Wong Fat Secondary School were the First Runner-up in the STEM category for their “A Transparent and Biodegradable Mask Filter” project.

The Hong Kong team’s ability to stand out among global top-notch entries fully demonstrates the excellence in frontier scientific research in Hong Kong, with students dedicated to improving the human living environment and environmental protection as can be seen by their innovations. The transparent and biodegradable mask filter is a comfortable and biodegradable filter piece suitable for construction workers, while the King’s College project highlighted how food waste treatment could be better monitored.  

“This time the competition was conducted in a relatively relaxed manner with the organisers arranging for us to visit Oxford and Cambridge universities, as well as introducing us to British food culture, architectural history, and local characteristics. In addition to honing my presentation skills and courage during the Competition, I also learnt about the cultures from other countries and made friends from around the world, broadening my horizons,” Fan Tsz-hang from King’s College said.

“We encountered a difficulty during our presentation when one of the devices used to test our invention, “SCOBY” (the mask filter), suddenly experienced technical problems, preventing us from demonstrating it to the judges and other participants. We had to rely on an oral presentation to explain the purpose and usage of our invention through which they were able understand our invention. Through this, I learned that in overseas competitions, we may encounter different problems and difficulties, and we should be adaptable and use different methods to solve them,” Cheung Ka-yu from Lung Kong WFSL Lau Wong Fat Secondary School said.

The Executive Director of The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, Hsu Siu-man congratulated the winning schools and teams and praised the students for their problem-solving abilities during the Competition. “I very much hope that the students enjoyed this valuable experience and will be motivated to continue their scientific research benefitting others in the future. The Creative Education Unit of the Federation remains committed to encouraging students to explore innovative technology, stimulating their creativity and scientific minds, and cultivating talented individuals with a strong research spirit,” she said.

In addition to participating in the above Competition, HKSSPC also nominated several teams to participate in two international online competitions, including the International Science Project Olympiad (INSPO) 2023 in Turkey and the World Science, Environment and Engineering Competition (WSEEC) held in Indonesia. All participating teams achieved excellent results. The results are as follows:

International – World Innovative Student Expo（iWISE）2023

International Science Project Olympiad (INSPO) 2023

World Science, Environment and Engineering Competition (WSEEC)