HKMU Hackathon
The Student Affairs Office held the first HKMU Hackathon in January to offer students a unique two-day experience for creating innovative solutions, attracting about 100 students to participate. Inspired by the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the event developed two problem statements, “Ageing Population” and “Environmental & Cultural Sustainability”, encouraging students from various disciplines to collaborate and conceive an innovative plan in a short time to solve the selected problem statement. After a series of pre-competition networking and training workshops, 22 teams participated in the semi-final pitching, with ten teams shortlisted for the finals. The finalist teams presented their innovative proposal on stage to compete for the awards.
Champion：F-C-C-L
Warm culture exchange station
To help mainland students integrate effectively into Hong Kong society, as well as support older adults to rejoin the workforce and boost their self-esteem, the team designs a series of programmes and activities for secondary school newcomers, including lining up host families for them and arranging for older residents to be “teachers” to help the students learn Cantonese and understand more about Hong Kong.
First runner-up：Alkaid
Block by Block Build HK
The team proposes a Minecraft STEAM programme for students to research the features of Hong Kong's historical and cultural architecture and showcase them through a Minecraft competition, offering an interesting way to deepen their knowledge of local culture and history.
Second runner-up：LSMK
One person can’t capture the beauty of the ocean,
but together we can protect it
The team makes use of STEM education to raise consciousness about protecting the ocean among primary or secondary students, including the utilisation of virtual reality (VR) technology to provide them with a vivid immersive experience of the marine environment in which to learn about coral bleaching and the plight of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins.
Champion：Y2O
Peace and harmony among the elderly
The team focuses on improving the emotional and mental health of the elderly through providing workshops and emotional support for elderly employees in collaboration with enterprises and non-governmental organisations. Students will also be recruited as volunteer tutors to expand the social network of the elderly and promote cross-generational integration.
First runner-up：The Hacker King of Marathon
Silver Echo: Those who have contributed to the era
must not be forgotten — let’s ensure the elderly are seen
Using the camera to record the lives of the elderly and sharing them through various social media platforms, the proposal aims to raise public awareness of the difficulties faced by the elderly, such as feelings of loneliness, negative impressions from the public and being ignored by society.
Second runner-up：Silver Tech Innovators
SmartSilver
Given that many elderly citizens are prone to home accidents due to mobility issues and chronic diseases, the team proposes home safety services to protect the elderly and support their family members in a tailor-made and cost-effective way.
