Innovation Wing affiliated student interest groups

Innovation Wing welcomes our members to register their project team(s) as an Innovation Wing affiliated Student Interest Group (SIG).

Upon successful registration, the team members in the SIG team, including UG/TPg/RPg students from all Faculties, academic staff, and technical staff, are eligible for Innovation Wing membership, which entitles its members to access the facilities, equipment, and service of Innovation Wing.

Innovation Wing invites academic staff in Engineering to register their student project team(s) as an Innovation Wing affiliated Student Interest Group (SIG).

Upon successful registration, the team members in the SIG team, including UG/TPg/RPg students, academic staff and technical staff, are eligible to apply for Innovation Wing membership, which entitles its members to access the facilities, equipment and service of Innovation Wing.

The supervisor of the Innovation Wing affiliated SIG could request for project storage space in the Makerspace and project workspace in the co-working Project Studios, subject to the approval and arrangement made by the Innovation Wing Office.

Application guideline
(click to download)
Application
  • Please start with a consultation with the Director of the Innovation Wing.
Schedule a consultation with the Director
Team composition
  • We encourage our members to work together in a multidisciplinary team on technology-related innovations/initiatives.
  • Academic Advisor / Supervisor 
    • We encourage the SIG team to identify an academic advisor / supervisor, who has the academic expertise in the field that the SIG focuses on, to work with the Innovation Wing on the appropriate resources that can help to grow the team.
    • The team is encouraged to identify an academic staff in Engineering, or an academic staff who joins the InnoHub programme organized by the Innovation Academy, as the academic advisor of the SIG. 
    • If the team has not yet identified an academic advisor, Innovation Wing, and Innovation Academy are very happy to help to facilitate the connection.
  • Technical support
    • As the team would do hands-on development works in Innovation Wing, we encourage the SIG team to identify designated technician(s), who possess the project-specific technical knowledge, to support the SIG in Innovation Wing on demand.
    • The designed technician will work with the Technical Manager of the Innovation Wing to provide the appropriate facilities and tools in supporting the prototyping and deployment work of the SIG.
Application form
Application form
(click to download)
  • Submission of application is welcomed anytime.
  • The application should be endorsed by the Head of the host department. The endorsement assures mutual understanding for the allocation of department resources (such as academic supervisor(s) / technical staff(s) / teaching assistant(s) / industrial advisor(s)) for the student interest group.
  • The application will be vetted and submitted by department representative. Department representative may give feedback to the applicants on the proposal.
  • Enquires may be directed to the Innovation Wing Office (innowing[at]hku.hk)

Department

Department representative in the Innovation Wing executive committee

Department of Civil EngineeringProf. J. Yang
Department of Computer ScienceProf SM Yiu
Department of Electrical and Electronic EngineeringDr. C.K. Lee
Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems EngineeringDr. HH Cheung
Department of Mechanical EngineeringDr. C. H. Liu
Application procedure

  • Step 1. Fill in the application form and obtain endorsement from department head

    The application for Innovation Wing affiliated student interest group should be prepared by the project supervisor, who is an academic staff in Engineering. The application should be endorsed by the Head of the host department. The endorsement assures mutual understanding for the allocation of department resources (such as academic supervisor(s) / technical staff(s) / teaching assistant(s) / industrial advisor(s)) for the student interest group.

  • Step 2. Submission by department representative

    The application will be vetted and submitted by the department representative to the Innovation Wing Office (innowing[at]hku.hk). Department representatives may give feedback to the applicants on the proposal.

    Department

    Department representative in the Innovation Wing executive committee

    Department of Civil Engineering

    Prof. J. Yang

    Department of Computer Science

    Prof SM Yiu

    Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

    Dr. CK Lee

    Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering

    Dr. HH Cheung

    Department of Mechanical Engineering

    Dr. C. H. Liu

  • Step 3. Panel review / interview

    The proposal will be reviewed by a panel with the Associate Dean of Engineering (Innovation) as the chairman, Associate Deans of Engineering (Student Development), the Director of Interdisciplinary Facilities and the Director of Innovation Wing and as the key members.

    Assessment criteria of the proposals are including but not limited to the following:

    a. Objectives and potential impact of the SIG;

    b. Innovation, uniqueness, scope and potential impact of the SIG;

    c. Adequacy of academic and technical support allocated from the department;

    d. Appropriateness of the proposed project-specific equipment/tools and the requested minimal storage space;

    e. Adequacy of the planned T&L, R&D and KE activities;

    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 department office of the project supervisor once the proposal is approved.

  • Step 4. Acceptance of offer

    Upon successful application, the team members in the SIG team, including UG/TPg/RPg students, academic staff and technical staff, are eligible to apply for Innovation Wing membership, which entitles its members to access the facilities, equipment and service of Innovation Wing.

    Besides, the supervisor of the SIG could request for project storage space and co-working space in the Project Studios in the Innovation Wing, subject to the approval and arrangement made by the Innovation Wing Office.

  • Step 5. Submit project report and deliverable

    The project supervisor shall submit the required deliverables to Inno Wing Office <innowing[at]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.

Assessment

The Director may advise the team to submit a proposal/application form. 

After reviewing the proposal, an interview may be scheduled if necessary.

Assessment criteria of the proposals are including but are not limited to the following:

  1. Objectives and potential impact of the SIG;
  2. Innovation, uniqueness, scope, and potential impact of the SIG;
  3. Adequacy of academic and technical support allocated from the department;
  4. Appropriateness of the proposed project-specific equipment/tools and the requested minimal storage space;
  5. Adequacy of the planned T&L, R&D, and KE activities;
Project deliverable

The project supervisor shall submit the following deliverables to Innovation Wing Office (<innowing[at]hku.hk>) within one month after the expected project completed date:

  • A project report – Please submit the Docx format of the project report, using the following template.
Report template (By project supervisor)
  • Media links:
    • Poster of the SIG – preferably 36 inch width * 54 inch height with 150dpi (5400 * 8100 pixels)
    • Project images – Including a cover image and several other images (with high resolution)
    • A short video about the SIG – preferably a one-minute introduction video of the SIG.
  • Students’ sharing – Short written sharing from each student member of the project group.
  • There are events organized by the Innovation Wing for the SIGs. The SIG teams will actively participate in the following events:
    • The Engineering Induction event – an orientation and introduction event for students to get in touch with various Innovation Wing affiliated SIGs at the beginning of the academic year.
    • The Engineering InnoShow event – a showcase carnival that celebrates innovative Engineering student projects at the end of every semester.
  • There are visiting tours arranged by the Innovation Wing Office. The supervisor (or student/staff on behalf arranged by the supervisor) will introduce the SIG projects to the guests and visitors of Innovation Wing.
The role of Innovation Wing and its affiliated Student Interest Groups
Innovation Wing Innovation Wing affiliated Student Interest Group

Project storage
  • Innovation Wing can provide project storage boxes for the SIG team upon the request made by the supervisor. Innovation Wing Office will make the best effort to accommodate the request.
  • The Innovation Wing Office has the right to allocate/relocate/revoke the storage space for the SIG team.
  • The SIG team and the host department follows the storage space arrangement made by the Innovation Wing Office.
  • When the storage space is limited in the Innovation Wing, the Innovation Wing Office could request the SIG team to relocate its project storage back to the host department.

Project studio
  • Innovation Wing can provide project space in the co-working project studio for the SIG team upon the request made by the supervisor. Innovation Wing Office will make the best effort to accommodate the request.
  • Multiple SIG teams would be allocated to set up a collaboration / co-working space in the Project Studio.
  • Innovation Wing provides basic furniture (such as chairs, tables and storage drawers) upon request by the supervisor.
  • The Innovation Wing Office has the right to allocate/relocate/revoke the project space in the Project Studio for the SIG team.
  • Please report to Innovation Wing Office and obtain approval before bringing any project-specific equipment/tools in the Project Studio.
  • The supervisor manages the technical staff(s) from the department who is designated to support the SIG in Innovation Wing on demand.
  • When the Project Studio space is limited, the Innovation Wing Office could request the SIG team to relocate their project space back to the host department.

Housekeeping / cleaning arrangement

  • The Innovation Wing Office arranges housekeeping / cleaning service for common areas such as the gallery, corridors and the event halls.
  • The SIG members are responsible for the housekeeping / cleaning of the workspace they used.

Recruitment of new members for the SIG
  • Innovation Wing provides event/activity venues for booking. Please refer to this page for the details.
  • Innovation Wing Office organizes the Engineering Induction event at the beginning of the academic year for new students to get in touch with various SIGs.  The SIGs can recruit prospective members to grow their teams, seek timely and constructive feedback from academic advisors and share their inventive ideas with industry experts for potential collaborations.
  • The supervisor manages the recruitment activities for the SIG.
  • Participate in the Engineering Induction event.

Academic and technical support

  • Innovation Wing offers general facilities and services to its members
    • Makerspace
    • Brainstorming area/meeting rooms
    • Computer-aided design (CAD) facilities
    • 3D printing facilities
    • Laser cutting and engraving facilities
    • Electronic workbenches
    • Hand tools/power tools and mechanical facilities in the Machine Shop

  • The supervisor arranges academic and technical support from department(s) for the SIG.

T&L, R&D and KE activities of the SIGs
  • Innovation Wing provides event/activity venues for booking. Please refer to this page for the details.

  • The supervisor manages the T&L, R&D and KE activities for the SIG.

Publicity of the SIG and their achievements

  • Innovation Wing Office maintains a website that introduces its affiliated SIGs and their student activities/project achievements.
  • Innovation Wing Office organizes the Engineering InnoShow event, a public showcase carnival that celebrates innovative Engineering student projects at the end of each semester.
  • The supervisor provides the details to Innovation Wing for publicity purpose:
  • Media links:
    • Poster of the SIG - 36-inch width * 54-inch height with 150dpi (5400 * 8100 pixels)
    • Images of the SIG - one cover image and a number of other images
    • A short video about the SIG - preferably a one-minute introduction video of the SIG.
  • A completion report
  • Participate in the Engineering InnoShow event as one of the showcasing teams.

Tours for visitors

Innovation Wing Office arranges tours that feature inspirational visits to engage students, teachers and visitors with Innovation Wing's unique facilities, projects and student communities.

The supervisor (or student/staff on behalf arranged by the supervisor) introduces the projects of the SIG to the guests and visitors.
Some of our affiliated SIGs
Mechanical Engineering

SIG – HKU UAS (Unmanned aerial system)

HKU UAS is a student interest group focusing on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). We aim to gather self-motivated drone lovers to learn and work on drone projects together. Not only to gain a lot of hands-on experience, by joining us, you could improve your mechanical skills and learn and apply electrical and computer science skills.

With the support of Innovation Wing, we plan to join competitions to test our knowledge and skills, also to learn from other teams and gain valuable experience. In 2022, the team build the system based on the rules of AUVSI SUAS 2023.
The AUVSI SUAS Competition is a yearly event, designed to stimulate interest in UAS technologies and careers, and to engage students in a challenging UAS mission.

Learn More »
Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering

SIG – HKU Robocon

The annual Robocon competition project allows HKU engineering students from different disciplines to design and fabricate innovative robots with an integration of various advanced technologies, including IoT sensors, AI, computer vision, and mobile computing. Besides, it provides hands-on experiences on product design, prototyping, CNC machining, design and fabrication of electric circuit and PCB, control program development, etc.

Learn More »
Innovation Wing

SIG – Engineering and Archaeology

We are forming a new interest group at the Innovation Wing, as a collaboration with humanities and educational researchers at HKU.

In this group, we plan to pursue several interdisciplinary projects that will improve the ways we can study and teach about the human past. Our projects will include uses of augmented and virtual reality in recording, teaching, and presenting archaeological sites. We are also studying the use of machine learning and computer vision for several purposes to study visual datasets such as satellite images of ancient landscapes. We work with a field project that travels to Armenia each summer to excavate. We welcome anyone who would like to join our team, from any Faculty. We especially invite engineers and computer scientists, but we also have many other projects which anyone with an interest can join.

Let’s learn about the human past together! Thank you!

Learn More »
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

SIG – 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 »
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

SIG – Quantum Bit Demonstrator

The world is currently in the midst of a second-quantum revolution, which will see the counter intuitive properties of quantum systems such as superposition and entanglement, being applied for commercial technologies such as quantum computing, quantum sensing, and quantum communications. Quantum Computing is mostly taught to undergraduates in a classroom focusing mostly on theoretical and mathematical concepts with minimal laboratory components. This is primarily because research laboratories working in quantum science are too expensive, bulky, and complicated to be used for undergraduate teaching purposes. We wish to bridge that gap by building a compact, user-friendly, interactive setup to introduce quantum physics to a younger non-expert audience. The goal of the project is to create a curriculum for quantum technology, a sustainable education model, with an in-class demonstration kit for quantum science education.

Learn More »
Computer Science

SIG – HKU RoboMaster

Robomaster is a national robotics competition for university students, hosted by DJI. The project is about forming a team to design various types of smart robots which can engage in face-to-face, videogame-style battles. The preparation process involves the knowledge in the following disciplines: mechanical and hardware design, control theory application, computer vision and smart algorithm, technical management. The ultimate purpose of the project is to develop the skills, quality and team spirit of engineering students that can be beneficial in their future career.

Learn More »
Computer Science

SIG – HKU Astar (formerly RoboMaster ICRA AI Challenge)

HKU Astar is a student group who participates in Robomaster University AI Challenge Competition. Robomaster University AI Challenge is an AI-based robotics competition for university students held by DJI and IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. It emphasizes on writing AI algorithms and tuning and choosing and training machine learning models to power pure automatic robots to accomplish complex goals like building maps, avoiding collision and tracking. Our team aims to build AI Robot tuples that can work purely automatically. Implementing and design decision policies according to competition requirements. Training AI networks to recognize and track objects. Implement localization and motion planning on robots under uncertainty.

Learn More »
Biomedical Engineering

SIG – IIIs for VIPs

IIIs for VIPs is an SIG collaborating with our supervisor Dr. Joseph Chan. It aims to provide a space where students can create inventions which help improve the daily lives of visually impaired persons (VIPs). We welcome students from engineering, medicine and interested students from other faculties.

Our SIG will support our members in finishing their projects until it becomes available for public use. Any project with the purpose of improving the activities of daily living for VIPs are welcome.

Learn More »
Mechanical Engineering

SIG – BREED Robotics

BREED is a student group committed to developing and promoting bio-inspired technology. Our flagship VAYU project – the world’s fastest robotic fish – and our upcoming initiatives such as our robotic dog aim to educate and enhance awareness in the general student body. Using designs perfected by millions of years of natural evolution, we adapt selected features into increasing effectiveness of man-made robots. We aim to establish a hub based in the Innovation Wing where this development can take root in the local community, increasing awareness and interest while promoting scientific innovation: this will be done through outreach projects, educational initiatives, as well as the continuation of various bio-inspired initiatives under BREED.

Learn More »
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

SIG – PERfECT Wearables for Digital Health

Internet of things (IoT) has attracted huge attention because of its potential to connect things together with the cloud. Similarly, the Internet of Health (IoH) aims to enable real-time health evaluation of an individual or a group with advanced medical devices. This feat can be realized by developing tiny wearable biosensors that can be easily deployed on the human body to monitor health signals. This project develops next-generation wearable biosensors to allow digital healthcare. There are two main components. First, we develop skin-attachable biosensors which detect health signals including electrophysiological signals, temperature, and antibodies or glucose in the sweat. Second, we develop miniaturized sensor characterization systems to enable comfort wear for practical applications. The whole set can communicate the data wirelessly with other electronic devices. This will be one of the smallest wearable devices developed so far. Future research is being conducted by our group at the innovation wing now at HKU.

Learn More »
Computer Science

SIG – Smart Elderly Walker

This project aims to develop the set of technologies to achieve convenient-to-use mobility support for daily use of the elderly. In this project, we are developing a smart elderly walker which is intended to play an active role in an elderly person’s daily life, with three fundamental functionalities that do not exist or not well supported by (smart) walkers in the market: smart walking assistance; falling prevention and support; autonomous mobility.
A set of mechanical, control, sensory, and AI technologies is being developed including:
(1) novel walker mechanical structure with omnidirectional mobility and outrigger mechanisms;
(2) dual-mode actuation and control for walking/standing support and fall prevention/ recovery;
(3) multimodal sensory data collection through soft sensory skin, and data processing on device and in the cloud, for event detection and control such as user front following and fall detection;
(4) sound-source localization for elderly localisation and auto-navigation of walker.

Learn More »
Access to special project studio

Innovation Wing

  • Innovation Wing can provide project space in the co-working project studio for the SIG team upon the request made by the supervisor. Innovation Wing Office will make the best effort to accommodate the request.
  • Multiple SIG teams would be allocated to set up a collaboration / co-working space in the Project Studio.
  • Innovation Wing provides basic furniture (such as chairs, tables and storage drawers) upon request by the supervisor.
  • The Innovation Wing Office has the right to allocate/relocate/revoke the project space in the Project Studio for the SIG team.

Supervisor of SIG

  • Please report to Innovation Wing Office and obtain approval before bringing any project-specific equipment/tools in the Project Studio.
  • The supervisor manages the technical staff(s) from the department who is designated to support the SIG in Innovation Wing on demand.
  • When the Project Studio space is limited, the Innovation Wing Office could request the SIG team to relocate their project space back to the host department.

Student participants and designated technical staff of SIG 

According to Section 9 of the safety manual of Innovation Wing (innowing.hk/safety):

  • All workshops/project studios users including technical staff are requested to sign a Safety Awareness Declaration Form.
  • The duly completed form should be submitted to the staff-in-charge of the thematic workshop or the supervisor of the Student Interest Group for endorsement.
  • The supervisor submits the endorsed form to the Technical Manager.
  • The form will automatically expire on 31 August every year. Members should make the declaration again for keeping his/her privilege of working in the thematic workshop/project studio.
  • Smart card door access privilege to a workshop/studio would not be granted without a duly completed Form.
  • The technical manager may request users to make a declaration again if a new hazard(s) appears in the premises.
Safety awareness declaration form (docx)
Safety awareness declaration form (PDF)
Working outside opening hours

According to the safety manual of Innovation Wing 5.6 (innowing.hk/safety)

“Under exceptional circumstances, Student Interest Group may apply for working in the project studio outside the normal opening hours by filing an application form which can be obtained from the General Office. The form must be endorsed by the academic supervisor who must arrange himself/herself or a technical staff to supervise the group in the project studio.”

Academic supervisor of Innovation Wing affiliated Student Interest Group can submit the following application form to Innovation Wing Office or email (innowing@hku.hk) at least 3 working days in advance for the outside opening hours working arrangement in the special project studio.

Application form
SIG Working Outside Opening Hours (docx)
Application form
SIG Working Outside Opening Hours (PDF)