Gesture-controlled cargo trolley

Another of the competing teams, from Christian Alliance Sun Kei Secondary School, developed a smart vehicle for carrying goods. It takes a load of up to sixty kilograms and is very simple to operate: the user puts on a wristband and, with four set hand gestures, directs the vehicle where to go.

"The vehicle is directed by four specific gestures. Open the palm, close the fist, or sweep the palm to the left or the right, and you can make it move a heavy load — there's no need to push the cart yourself, so there's less muscle strain."

Noddy Chung, Form 4, on the project

Working with two classmates, Chung took a merit award at the competition for the invention, and was recommended by the judging panel to represent Hong Kong in the United States at the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project Olympiad, where the project won the bronze award in the engineering category. While in America the team exchanged ideas with students from more than sixty countries and regions, and took the chance to visit the Houston Museum of Natural Science and widen their horizons.

The cargo-carrying smart vehicle developed by Christian Alliance Sun Kei Secondary School took a merit award. Noddy Chung, one of the Form 4 students who worked on it, pointed out that the vehicle carries a load of up to sixty kilograms: the user need only wear a wristband and, with four hand gestures such as opening the palm and closing the fist, direct the vehicle to move — reducing muscle strain.

The smart vehicle was further recommended by the judging panel to represent Hong Kong in Houston at the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project Olympiad, where it won the bronze award in the engineering category.

Scientific research isn't the exclusive property of scientists — plenty of students use their creativity to develop something useful, and go on to stand out in international competition. The Education Bureau, together with the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups and other bodies, recently ran the student science competition, where the entries included a miniature air conditioner and a smart vehicle. No shortage of invention.

The cargo-carrying smart vehicle from Christian Alliance Sun Kei Secondary School took a merit award in the competition and was recommended by the judging panel to represent Hong Kong at the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project Olympiad in the United States, where it took bronze in the engineering category.

The vehicle carries up to sixty kilograms. Put on the control wristband and use four simple gestures — open hand, clenched fist, palm swept left or right — and you can direct the vehicle's movement from a distance, without pushing the cart, so there is less muscle strain.

The Hong Kong government has pushed innovation and technology hard in recent years, and nurtured no small number of young entrepreneurs. The "innovation fever" has swept across the city's campuses: many secondary and primary students now put their minds to everyday life, developing products of real use to people with boundless creativity — small scientists, you might call them — and some of those products have gone abroad and won international recognition. The Education Bureau, the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups and the Hong Kong Science Museum, among others, have jointly run the student science competition for years to encourage research.

Another of the competing teams, from Christian Alliance Sun Kei Secondary School, developed a cargo-carrying smart vehicle that takes a load of up to sixty kilograms and is very simple to operate. The user need only wear a wristband and, with four set gestures, direct the vehicle forward, back, left and right. Noddy Chung, the Form 4 student who worked on the project, said: "The vehicle is directed by four specific gestures. Open the palm, close the fist, or sweep the palm to the left or the right, and you can make it move a heavy load — there's no need to push the cart yourself, so there's less muscle strain."

Bronze at the "Olympiad"

Chung worked with two other classmates, and the invention took a merit award and then the judging panel's recommendation to represent Hong Kong in Houston at the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project Olympiad, where it won the bronze award in the engineering category. While in America, the team exchanged ideas with students from more than sixty countries and regions, and visited the Houston Museum of Natural Science.