Funding for Experiential Learning Projects and Activities

The Design, Build & Fly (DBF) hosted in the Mechanical Engineering department, supervised by Dr. C. K. Chan (ME).

Robomaster 2019 hosted in the Computer Science department, supervised by Dr. Kenneth Wong (CS)

Robocon 2019 hosted in the Mechanical Engineering department, supervised by Dr. Ka Wai Kwok (ME) and Prof. Kenneth Wong (EEE)

HKU Racing 2019 hosted in the Electrical and Electronic Engineering department, supervised by Dr. C.K. Lee (EEE)

Student experiential learning is an integral part of the undergraduate curriculum of the Faculty of Engineering, and the outside classroom activities are recognized as good opportunities to integrate knowledge learned from different courses and disciplines to provide solutions to real life engineering problems. Students take part in experiential learning activities will not only acquire valuable knowledge and experience through participation, but also improve their interpersonal skills through teamwork, and widen their horizons through joining such activities abroad.

Nevertheless, encouraging BEng students to take part in various experiential activities requires ample opportunities with significant financial and space support. Teachers in HKU Engineering Faculty strive to explore and identify valuable experiential learning opportunities for students, and it is observed that the number of BEng students joined experiential learning activities, such as summer programmes, competitions, service learning, and STEM education, increased gradually in the past few years. With the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing (Inno Wing) to be completed in 2020, students will be able to immerse in self-initiated projects, and to participate in different innovative competitions under the support of this new initiative to tackle the emerging complex engineering problems in the world.

Funding

From the 2019-2020 academic year onward, academic staff in Engineering may apply funding for experiential learning projects/activities from the Faculty to support experiential learning projects. Here are some notes about the funding.

Project supervisor – Each project must have a project supervisor who is an academic staff in Engineering.
Host department – Each project must have a host department and the application will have to be endorsed by the head of the host department.
Project budget
- The full budget of the project should be provided in the proposal.
- The requested budget from the Faculty should be provided in the proposal.
- In most of the cases, the approved funding from Inno Wing will be a fraction of the full budget. Approximately $3,000 HKD per project member from Engineering Faculty, or 1/3 of the full budget, whichever is less.
- The total funding from alternative sources (such as the HKU Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Fund, Departmental funding, Student contribution/application fee, etc.) should be provided in the proposal.
The funding can support – Subsidy for travel & accommodation, consumable & material cost and other necessary expenditures incurred for joining competitions.
The funding cannot support – Expenditure on staff cost, equipment, and food & beverage. Any equipment or facility support request for the project should be addressed to the Director of Innovation Wing.
Management of funding – Once the funding is approved and accepted by the project supervisor, the approved funding will be transferred to the hosting department for management. The Project supervisor is required to work with the host department to handle all the
reimbursement requests under the project concerned under the conditions and before the expiry date of the respective approved funding.
Submission of application – The application has to be submitted by the project supervisor (instead of by students).

Member access to DreamLab

The Engineering DreamLab is located on the Mezzanine floor at the Research Student Centre in the Haking Wong building. Basic tools and equipment are available to cultivate and enhance the “Maker-culture” among students. DreamLab provides a testing ground for cross stimulations among undergraduate and postgraduate students to work on experiential learning projects, and preparation for external competitions.

Project supervisor can apply for DreamLab access for the project members. Students have to go through basic safety training before they are allowed to access to the Engineering DreamLab.

3. Dedicated project work space in Inno Wing

Upon request by project supervisor and subject to the approval.

Available when Inno Wing is open in mid-2020.

Meanwhile in 2019-20 academic year, only very limited dedicated project work space is available in the DreamLab.

4. Project testing / event space in Inno Wing

Upon request and approval by Inno Wing.

Booking testing space / event space (The event hall)

5. Project storage

Upon request and approval by Inno Wing.

Dedicated project storage locker

Application form and submission

Submission of application is welcomed anytime. Received applications will be processed in 2 batches annually:

The first batch – for applications received in early October.
The second batch – for applications received before the end of March.

Please submit the application form to Ms Nicole Leung <nhcleung@hku.hk>.

Project deliverable

The project supervisor shall submit the following deliverables to Ms Nicole Leung <nhcleung@hku.hk> within one month after the expected project completed date:

A project report – Please submit the docx format of the project report, using this following template.

Media links:
- Poster – preferably 36 inch width * 54 inch height with 150dpi (5400 * 8100 pixels)
- Project images – Including cover image and other project images (with high resolution)
- A short video – Preferably around one minute
Students’ sharing – Short written sharing from each student member of the project group.
Take part in the Engineering InnoShow – The project team is required to participate in at least one InnoShow event, which is a showcase carnival organized by the Innovation Wing, Faculty of Engineering at the end of every semester, to applause innovative projects conducted by engineering students.

Procedure

Step 1. Fill in the application form

Students should identify a project supervisor, an academic staff in the Engineering Faculty. Students should discuss with the supervisor and agree on the project objectives, project scope, activity plan, and budget in the application form.
Step 2. Submit application with Endorsement by head of host department

Each project must have a host department and the application will have to be endorsed by the head of the host department.
Submission of application is welcomed anytime. Received applications will be processed in 2 batches annually:
- The first batch - for applications received in early October.
- The second batch - for applications received before the end of March.
Please submit the application form to Ms Nicole Leung <nhcleung@hku.hk>.
Step 3. Interview and approval

The proposal will be reviewed by the Director of Inno Wing and the Associate Deans of Engineering (Student Development, Innovation) based on but not limited to the followings.
a. Objectives and potential impact of the project
b. Activities and deliverables of the project
c. Scope of the project (Local / Regional / International)
d. Whether the project is interdisciplinary (inter-Department / inter-Faculty / inter-Schoo)
e. Feasibility and sustainability of project
f. Appropriateness of the budget proposal
g. Adequacy of provisions made for assessment and dissemination
An interview may be scheduled. The allocation will be based on the availability of the funding/space resource.
An award letter will be sent to the project supervisor once the requested resources are approved.
Step 4. Acceptance of offer and transfer of funding to host department

Once the approved resources are accepted by the project supervisor, the approved funding will be transferred to the hosting department for management.
The project supervisor is required to work with the host department to handle all the reimbursement requests under the project concerned under the conditions and before the expiry date of the respective approved funding.
Step 5. Submit project report and deliverable

The project supervisor shall submit the required deliverables to Inno Wing, Ms Nicole Leung <nhcleung@hku.hk> within one month after the expected project completed date. Inno Wing will use the materials for the promotion and publicity works for HKU Engineering's innovation and student achievements.
Step 6. Showcase project works in the Engineering InnoShow

The project team is required to participate in at least one Engineering InnoShow event, which is a showcase carnival organized by the Innovation Wing, Faculty of Engineering at the end of every semester, to applause innovative projects conducted by engineering students.

Projects supported by Faculty funding

Computer Science

Duckietown AI-Driving

HKU Duckietown Project is an interdisciplinary project that aims to democratise A.I. and robotics research. Through this project, students will gain tangible experience in a fun and playful way in prototyping self-driving robots and applying A.I. to the physical education platform developed by MIT for experiential learning.
A project highlight is the students’ participation in the A.I. Driving Olympics (AI-DO) international contests, with the live final events co-locate with NIPS and ICRA, the prestigious conferences in A.I. and robotics. Through the preparation of the competitions for over half a year, students will undergo intensive trainings, foster peer collaborations, solidify their knowledge and demonstrate a sustainable learning outcome.

Learn More »

Electrical and Electronic Engineering

HKU Racing

Formula Student is a renowned educational engineering competition, combining practical engineering with soft skills including business planning and project management. It is a proving ground for students who want to create and change the world. Electrification of transportation system is here, the combination of electric powertrain and traditional mechanical system has made this competition attractive to lots of industries leading to companys’ attention and support. This competition jump starts our students’ knowledge and skills set for their future career. HKU Racing is the first team from Hong Kong to compete in Formula Student (European series).

Learn More »

Computer Science

RoboMaster @ 1st Inno Show

RoboMaster Robotics Competition focuses on the comprehensive application and engineering practice ability of the participating members in science and engineering disciplines, fully integrating many robot related technical disciplines such as “machine vision”, “embedded system design”, “mechanical control”, “inertial navigation”, “human-computer interaction”, etc. At the same time, the innovative combination of e-sports presentation and robotic competition makes the robot confrontation more intuitive and intense, attracting the attention and participation of many technology enthusiasts and the public. (Robomaster official website)

Learn More »

Mechanical Engineering

Design, Build & Fly for (2019-2020) AIAA competition

The Design, Build & Fly (DBF) is a regular capstone design project under the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Every year, many ME students show a very strong enthusiasm in this project and our department encourages them to participate in different international competitions. Many student competitions are based on solving “real” cases and problems. By participating in a competition, it helps students to build up links between thinking and doing so that they learn to apply theories into practice with a deeper understanding of the concepts.

Learn More »

Electrical and Electronic Engineering

ClearBot 2019: Decentralized Robot Swarms to Clean our Oceans

Ocean plastics destroy our natural marine and coastal habitats, endanger wildlife across the globe, pollute our food chain, and ultimately affecting the global water-food-energy nexus. Here, we present ClearBot, a scalable, AI-powered, plastic collecting intelligent robotic solution to address the ocean plastic epidemic with a sustainable community-centric symbiotic ecosystem.

Learn More »

Computer Science

Mixed Reality (MR) ready aircraft

Airlines have started removing IFE monitors to promote fuel economy and give way to handheld devices while losing traction and loyalty from passengers. Meanwhile, a US$300-million market of MR technology has just propelled recently and will soon become a new standard of entertainment. Under this narrative, MR ready aircraft opens up a huge variety of entertainment options to passengers and convincing business opportunities to airlines. Yet, without a standardized platform, MR developers are less interested in projects around aircraft, a subject with tedious regulations and tremendous know-how of engineering.

SKYLINER is a middleware designed for MR developers to create and publish their work on board, where passengers and crews can benefit from limitless creations. The platform includes components that are crucial to developers, like spatial understanding of the cabin environment, and compliance to regulations. SKYLINER would soften the grind during the development stage and take care of the needs of partners in MR industry.

MR ready aircraft and SKYLINER mean an opportunity of partnership with IT giants, reinforce the pledge of offering premium service and keep AIRBUS at the helm in the market.

Learn More »

More to be listed here…

Funding for Experiential Learning Projects and Activities

Step 1. Fill in the application form

Step 2. Submit application with Endorsement by head of host department

Step 3. Interview and approval

Step 4. Acceptance of offer and transfer of funding to host department

Step 5. Submit project report and deliverable

Step 6. Showcase project works in the Engineering InnoShow

Duckietown AI-Driving

HKU Racing

RoboMaster @ 1st Inno Show

Design, Build & Fly for (2019-2020) AIAA competition

ClearBot 2019: Decentralized Robot Swarms to Clean our Oceans

Mixed Reality (MR) ready aircraft