Final-year student in BEd(S)-ICT programme wins third prize in a competition on innovation

From left to right: Alvin Chuang and Wong Wai-leung at the final presentation on 27 May, both students of the BEd(S)-ICT programme; Dr Winnie Lam Wai-man, subject coordinator of the programme; and Mr Wilson Cheng Wing-hong, a lecturer from MIT.

Wong Wai-leung explains his project during the final presentation.

Wong Wai-leung, a final-year student in the Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Secondary) - Information and Communication Technology (BEd(S)-ICT) programme at the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology (MIT), won third prize in the eighth Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

Organised by the Hong Kong New Generation Cultural Association and co-organised by the Hong Kong Science Park, the annual competition is funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission. Open to all students and young graduates from local tertiary institutions, the competition provides university students with an opportunity to showcase their entrepreneurial skills and talents, and to convert their innovative ideas into reality.

This year’s competition was organised between April and May 2022. A final presentation of the winning projects for the eighth competition was held on 27 May 2022.

The competition was divided into two parts: Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Wai-leung’s submission, entitled “Multimodal Sensor Handwriting Education System with AI in Dyslexia Detection”, was among three projects that shared third place in the Information Technology sub-category, under the Innovation segment of the competition. Other sub-categories under Innovation included Life Sciences, Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, and Mathematics and Physics/Mechanics and Control Systems.

Wai-leung said, “The BEd(S)-ICT programme not only teaches students subject knowledge about information and communication technology (ICT), but also develops our problem-solving skills. I learnt a lot about how to use ICT to analyse problems, and to plan and implement solutions. My project attempts to use AI to enable an early detection of pupils with dyslexia. An earlier detection of the disease means an earlier intervention in the design of teaching plans for such pupils, which could have significant impact on their learning outcomes.”

Dr Winnie Lam Wai-man, Associate Head of MIT and BEd(S)-ICT subject coordinator, congratulated Wai-leung on his achievement. She said that the department supports and encourages students of the programme to join external events and competitions, and to apply the knowledge they learn from the classroom to solve everyday and education-related problems.