The Bright Future Engineering Talent Hub under the College of Engineering at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), in collaboration with the Global Youth Centre for Science and Innovation, co-organised the inaugural cross-disciplinary artificial intelligence (AI) competition—the “HK AI Innovators Summit”. The event brought together local primary and secondary school pupils to develop innovative AI solutions for pressing real-world challenges across five key sectors: Education, Environment, Healthcare, Smart City and Industry.
The competition required participants to select one of five focus areas and develop a self-defined problem that could be solved using AI. Following several months of project creation, an initial screening narrowed the field to 27 shortlisted primary and secondary school teams for the final competition day. During the event, these teams presented their finalists’ projects to a panel of expert judges through live presentations and interactive booth displays.
The panel awarded “Hong Kong AI Innovators Summit Engineering Awards” Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards within each category. In addition, the competition established two special awards for the primary and secondary school divisions: a cross-category “Hong Kong AI Innovators Summit Grand Award” and a "People’s Choice Award," with the latter determined by visitor votes cast during the exhibition showcases.
At the final competition and award ceremony held on 11 July, Professor Chan Chi-hou, Vice-President (Community Engagement) of CityUHK, emphasised the University’s belief that innovation begins with curiosity and flourishes through opportunity. Expressing his deep appreciation to Dr Roy Chung, Founder and Chairman of the Bright Future Charitable Foundation, Professor Chan said, “Dr Chung has long been a champion of youth development. His steadfast commitment to education and technology continues to inspire and empower our next generation.” He added that through such enduring partnerships, CityUHK remains dedicated to nurturing young innovators.
A key highlight of the Summit was its dual-perspective judging panel, which combined distinguished academics with seasoned industry professionals. This hybrid evaluation structure reflects the competition’s core ethos: upholding academic rigour while placing strong emphasis on practical, student-led AI applications that tackle everyday societal challenges.
The judging panel comprised Professor Shek Chan-hung, Associate Dean of the College of Engineering at CityUHK; Professor Lam Heung-fai, Principal of the Bright Future Engineering Talent Hub; Professor Chan Wai-yan and Professor Andy Chow Ho-fai, Deputy Principals of the Bright Future Engineering Talent Hub; Ms Jessie Lee, CEO of KittenBot Robotics International; Mr Waris Candra, Head of Asia-Pacific at the Micro:bit Educational Foundation; and Mr Chow Chun-man, Executive Director of the Global Youth Centre for Science and Innovation.
