An innovative spirit can turn recreational facilities commonly found in the parks - such as a merry-go-round - into a source of power. Christian Alliance SW Chan Memorial College has developed such a portable playground and won the championship at HK Electric's “Green Energy Dreams Come True 2017”.
The group of six F.6 students has installed a generator at the playground so young children could produce electricity with the kinetic movement while they are playing and learning more about renewable energy (RE) and energy conservation.
By using funds from HK Electric, 12 secondary school teams leveraged advanced technologies, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and innovative forms of power generation, to successfully develop projects promoting energy efficiency and RE.
At the final round of the Competition held earlier, the teams delivered well-prepared presentations to explain how they had made their dreams come true over the last 10 months. Besides the championship winner, Leung Shek Chee College and HKCWC Fung Yiu King Memorial Secondary School came second and third with a proposal to generate power from plants and a collection of 128 green ideas respectively.
In its third year, the competition aims at encouraging secondary school students to promote energy efficiency, RE and energy sustainability. Their journeys began earlier this year when HK Electric shortlisted 12 teams to help them fulfil their green ambitions, providing each of them with up to HK$50,000 and a young engineer from the company for technical advice.
Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, HK Electric General Manager (Corporate Development) Mr. Yee Tak-chow said the competition was an avenue for young talents to pursue their green passion and hopes for a greener planet.
"In the education sector, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) development and life planning are popular concepts. This competition provides students with the opportunity to write a proposal, conduct research, and prepare a final report and presentation. By participating, students have the chance to develop valuable project planning and management skills, apply STEM teachings to experiment with science and promote green technologies, as well as gain a life planning experience," said Mr. Yee.
Adjudication was based on the teams’ written reports and final presentations delivered at the ceremony. Judging criteria included the project's theme, achievements, contents, effectiveness and sustainability, as well as the students' presentation skills and teamwork. All winning teams were awarded scholarships as an encouragement.
The adjudicators were very pleased to see projects of such high quality and wide diversity.
Various products were on display at the event. Besides winning entries, some schools used an AR sandbox simulating hazards caused by climate change, created a VR game about renewable energy and studied the feasibility of generating power using the flushing system.
The adjudicators were also impressed by the different promotional campaigns that reached out not only to the schools, but also to the community. The competition proved to be an excellent platform for schools to share their innovative ideas and efforts in green promotion, some of which could form the basis of future research on RE.
Also adjudicating were Associate Vice-President (Academic Support) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Professor Ho Siu-lau; Principal of the Queen's College Old Boys' Association Secondary School, Mr. Hui Yung-chung; Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the University of Hong Kong, Dr. Bryan Pong; Senior School Development Officer (Career Guidance Section) of the Education Bureau, Ms. Sandy Wong; Deputy Chief Executive of the Conservancy Association, Mr. Rico Wong; and HK Electric's General Manager (Public Affairs), Ms. Mimi Yeung.
A member of the winning team, Chan Po-yu, shared the lessons learnt through the trial and error process involved in the project, while her teammate Li Chau-yi found the experience made her reflect about life in general. She expressed her hopes to continue protecting the environment by taking more green initiatives.
HK Electric's Smart Power Campaign promotes energy efficiency and a low-carbon lifestyle through a series of activities. In addition to the "Green Energy Dreams Come True" Competition, the "Happy Green Schools Label Programme" offers educational activities all year round to its more than 380 member schools to spread the green messages.