To encourage students to engage in entrepreneurship and explore a new model of industry-university-research cooperation, Cheng Yu Tung College (CYTC) of the University of Macau and the Department of Applied Physics of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) jointly launched an entrepreneurial activity “Startup Weekday”. Twelve students from Cheng Yu Tung College and six students from the Department of Applied Physics of PolyU participated in the competition. Eighteen students were divided into five start-up teams. This activity has prepared five potential entrepreneurial projects in advance, and assigned these projects to five start-up teams that compete with each other. 6 CYTC mentors with start-up experience namely Chan Zi Xuan, Tam Pui Si, Fu Haoming, Tong Man, Liu Yonger and Wong Sam Ut were preassigned to guide each group to develop their project. This model provide students with the “contextual experience” of starting a business, to stimulate students’ enthusiasm and cultivate the relevant abilities required for entrepreneurship. After three days and two night of entrepreneurship camp and two months of project development, five start-up teams competed for first and second place in the finals that were held at Hong Kong Polytechnic University on August 26.
Finally, under the on-site professional comments of business elites, investors, and professors, the team “BEING” consisted of Li Yufei, Zeng Ge, and Pang Hoi Ying won the first prize and a cash award of 4,000 HKD. The team project “BEING-Cigarette Butt Recycling” is committed to exploring the methods and commercial models of extracting nicotine and solanesol from cigarette butts, making crude products provided to the corresponding pharmaceutical industry, and deeply digging the economic value of discarded cigarette butts while protecting the environment. The team “King of Spades” consisted of Zhang Yunzhe, Chen Ying, and Liu Jingyu won the second prize and a cash award of 2000 HKD, which focuses on the popular battery industry, exploring the technical and commercial feasibility of using brewer spent grain as raw material to produce hard carbon as battery-negative electrodes.
After the activity, some start-up teams decided to continue to proceed with the project plan, targeting at participating various entrepreneurial competitions and devoting themselves to the entrepreneurial field.
Special thanks to Hong Kong Mak’s Brewery Company for supporting this activity.
Mark from Mak’s Brewery presented the first prize to the team “BEING” consisted of Li Yufei, Zeng Ge, , Pang Hoi Ying and their mentor Henry Fu won the first prize （From left to right）
Prof. Dennis Leung (right), Associate Head of Department of Applied Physics, presented the second prize to the team “King of Spades” consisted of Zhang Yunzhe, their mentor Liu Yonger, Chen Ying, and Liu Jingyu（From left to right）
Group photo of Start-up Weekday