Campus Digest

HKBU students' creative business ventures win entrepreneurship awards

24 Jun 2014

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Shouting Box established by (from left) Cui Bofeng, Deng Bo, (first from right) Wei Yu-mou and Liang Xi (second from right) enables users to communicate anonymously on an online voice platform
Li Yuanxi (left) and Chan Sheung-wai (right) represent the Barrier-free School team in receiving the award
HKBU student Hung Chun-fung (first from left) and his team LUCAS Funland win the first runner-up in the Pitch Contest

 

The Knowledge Transfer Office recently announced the results of the "BEST $300,000 for New Venture – Business Plan Competition", part of its Business Entrepreneurship Support and Training (BEST) Programme. This year, the award winners were Shouting Box (business venture category) and Barrier-free School (social enterprise category). Each winning team will be given HK$300,000 in cash and in kind, covering entrepreneurial training, professional business services, as well as one year’s rental and services of an Incubation Office to put their entrepreneurial idea into practice.

 

Shouting Box was established by Cui Bofeng (Finance, Year 2), Deng Bo (Information System and E-Commerce Management, Year 2), Wei Yu-mou (Computer Science, Year 2) and Liang Xi (Visual Arts, Year 1). It provided an online platform on which users can communicate anonymously through voice. It allows people to enjoy an anonymous communication experience without any pre-judgment about the appearance, background and social status of the users. The team hopes to promote an easy and fair way of communication through Shouting Box, enabling users to take off their "social masks" and express themselves freely.

 

The Barrier-free School was designed by Li Yuanxi (PhD in Computer Science), Chan Sheung-wai (PhD in Computer Science), Dr Zou Waiwen (Computer Science alumnus), Chen Lijun (Master in Chinese Medicine), and two HKU students Cheung Wing-yin and Tsao Wen Yi. The team made use of barrier-free information technologies to provide learning courses, job coaching and an information technology promotion ambassador scheme, offering a three-in-one service entitled "Training + Job Matching + Career Support" to people with disabilities in Hong Kong. The project not only offered people in need a convenient way of learning, but also allowed them to transfer their knowledge by serving the community, working towards the goal of making Hong Kong an inclusive hub.

 

In addition, HKBU announced the results of the recent Junior World Entrepreneurship Forum 2014 Hong Kong Pitch Contest. The championship went to the Wonder Workshop team from Taiwan National Central University. The first runner-up was LUCAS Funland team formed by HKBU student Hung Chun-fung (Applied Physics, Final Year) and students of The University of Hong Kong. The second runner-up was presented to the Taiwan National Central University team.