Innovation Wing provides equipment, workspace, guidance for hands-on projects
Summary
The University of Hong Kong’s Innovation Wing in Hong Kong gives students equipment, workspace and academic guidance to turn classroom learning into hands-on projects. Students develop prototypes, including a robot for insulation work on electrical infrastructure and an AI guide for museum visitors. Projects can continue across semesters, with new students taking over when earlier participants leave. The facility also provides access to AI models through university-supported services.
Key Facts
- Kevin Tien-Hsuan Wu, a lecturer at HKU’s Innovation Academy, guided reporters around the facility on Sept. 2.
- Students can use 3D printers to produce parts and prototypes, and staff help them operate equipment.
- A chatbot project lets social work students practice counseling in simulated situations.
- The university reviews project progress regularly, and projects may continue beyond one semester.
- The Innovation Wing provides access to AI models through university-supported services so students do not have to pay for subscriptions to participate.
Kevin Tien-Hsuan Wu, a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong’s Innovation Academy, explains student projects at the Innovation Wing in the university’s Hui Oi Chow Science Building in Pokfulam, Hong Kong, Sept. 2. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
HONG KONG — Students were busy working on their projects when The Korea Times visited the Innovation Wing under the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in early September. The space was filled with 3D printers, equipment and displays of projects developed by students.
“This place is for experiential learning activities,” said Kevin Tien-Hsuan Wu, a lecturer at HKU’s Innovation Academy, who guided reporters around the facility on Sept. 2.
“Students come here not just to do their homework, but to turn their ideas into prototypes.”
The Innovation Wing gives students a place to put what they learn in class into practice. They can develop their own ideas or form groups with others who share their interests, with the university providing equipment, workspace and academic advice.
“We encourage students to do hands-on work here,” Wu said. “They learn the knowledge in the classroom, and they actually build things here.”
Students can use 3D printers to produce parts and prototypes and small jobs are supported as part of the service. Staff are on hand to help operate equipment, while faculty members from different departments can advise students on their projects.
A student carries a project prototype through the Innovation Wing at the University of Hong Kong in Pokfulam, Hong Kong, Sept. 2. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Some projects begin with problems brought to the university by companies or public institutions. Wu pointed to a robot being developed to carry out insulation work on electrical infrastructure, as well as an interactive artificial intelligence (AI) guide designed to answer museum visitors’ questions.
Another project involves a chatbot that allows social work students to practice counseling in simulated situations.
The aim is not necessarily to produce an immediate commercial product. Students are encouraged to try different approaches, including on problems for which industry partners have yet to find a clear solution.
Projects can continue beyond a single semester. The university reviews their progress regularly, and new students may take over when earlier participants graduate or leave for exchange programs.
Wu said the facility is also introducing more AI-related activities and providing access to AI models through university-supported services, so that students do not have to pay for subscriptions themselves to participate.
Rather than serving primarily as a startup incubator, the Innovation Wing offers students somewhere to test ideas before deciding whether to pursue them further.
“Before the startup, students can come here and try their ideas,” Wu said.
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