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Turning green buildings into a reality

Environmental protection has been the talk of the town. The market

for building energy efficiency improvements is new and largely

untapped, with only a small portion of the potential being realized

today. Under the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance which came

in effective in Sept. 2012, commercial buildings are required to

improve energy efficiency and perform energy audits. A PhD student

from Department of Computing of PolyU has eyed on the green

market.

With his eye on the green market, Abraham Lam, a PhD student from

the Department of Computing, who also worked in the Department

of Building Service Engineering, was involved in developing computer

applications for green buildings. “I wanted to put my knowledge to

good use. I paired up with a partner and founded Building Integration

Perfection Limited in 2011 aiming to drive sustainability in our city

through green innovations.” Our technology solution “Sustainable

iBuilding Management Platform (SiMP)” facilitates building owners to

monitor and manage electricity consumption of the building services

systems (e.g. lighting, air-conditioning and lift systems), which

consumes about 90% of the building’s energy. The solution enables

remote monitoring from the control office and optimization of energy

intensive applications such as ventilation, pumping and compressed

air installations.

Abraham received $100,000 seed

funding from the Micro Fund platform

which supports sound businesses

ventures with “Do Well Do Good”

mission. “Besides receiving the

necessary capital for on-going

application development, we are

able to build up knowledge in business

management, financial accounting

and human resources management

through training courses and

workshops provided through the Micro

Fund Scheme”, said Abraham.

In sharing his valuable experience, Abraham said young

entrepreneurs tend to overvalue their product ideas and creations.

“If you are open to advice and discussion, you get to validate your

ideas and avoid unnecessary failures.” Reaching out is a great way

to do that. “PolyU has good partnership with the business world,

which gives me access to expert advice and valuable information on

market dynamics through networking with seasoned and

industry-savvy professionals. That helps me improve on my business

model and make it work.”

SiMP has already assisted a number of office buildings in optimizing

their lighting and air-conditioning systems based on good data and

accurate measurements. “A practical platform will make an easy

transition for the building owners in achieving energy efficiency,” said

Abraham. The team has also received Cyberport’s on-site incubation

support, putting them one step closer to their goal!

Bringing groundbreaking technology into the world of health care

“It looks like an ordinary piece of cloth but it can do more than just

make clothes. It is a pressure-sensing fabric that can turn into health

sensors to measure respiration rate. This is the first step towards

stretchable electronic devices,” said Dr. Guangfeng Wang while

demonstrating with Softceptor fabric in his hands.

Dr. Wang, a Postdoctoral fellow and

research assistant in the Institute of

Textiles and Clothing, has been

conducting research in smart

materials for future garments since

2004. His dream was to produce

wearable electronics. During his

study under the supervision of Prof.

Tao Xiao-ming, he came up with a

new fabric called Softceptor, which

can conduct electricity and sense any strain and pressure. As a superb

alternative to metals when making electronic sensors, Softceptor can

be stretched and draped around our body comfortably.

“Softceptor fabric is soft and washable. It will have many applications

in health care, sports training and computer games. Seeing the

incredible market potential we decided to take it forward and started

our own company. We’re hoping to make stretchy sensors for

cutting-edge health monitoring so as to bring better care to the elderly

and people with long illnesses,” said Dr. Wang.

“As a small business, our company AdvanPro Ltd. needed strong

back-up through all the stages in bringing the technology to market.

Apart from the $100,000 seed funding received from Micro Fund, we

also obtained funding from Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks

and the Innovation and Technology Commission for on-going research

and product development. The finance enables the development of

health monitoring devices and the launch of clinical trials.”

With expertise in material science and textile engineering, the

scientist-turned-businessman needed market news, expert advice,

and growth strategies. PolyU brings together the inventors,

researchers, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and industry-savvies for

seminars and networking sessions. “The mentoring programme is also

very useful. A good mentor brings knowledge of the market,

constructive advice on product design and managing company’s

finances” said Dr. Wang.

AdvanPro has been working closely with rehabilitation science and

computer science experts to build cutting-edge computer

applications for health analysis and alert. A recent HKRITA (“The Hong

Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel”) funded project gave

birth to “warning shoes”, to protect against foot injury for the diabetics.

Dr. Wang explained, “The pressure-sensitive fabric is made into a sole

to detect pressure from walking movements. We will end up with smart

shoes that warn patients against over exercise and send alerts.”

Working with the Kwong Wah Hospital and PolyU, AdvanPro was

hoping to build a foot-pressure profile and develop unique formula for

foot health assessment.

From Research to Business

APR 2014 VOL.2

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“Building a Venture Oriented Eco-System - a Call for New Leaders” round-table discussion (16 January 2014)PolyU’s Institute for Entrepreneurship (IfE) hosted a round-table discussion titled "Building a Venture Oriented Eco-System - a Call for New Leaders" on 16 January 2014 with guest speaker Prof. Yesha Sivan, Executive Director of The Coller Institute of Venture at Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Prof. Sivan started the evening with a concise presentation on Israel's innovation, hi-tech and entrepreneurial ecosystem and how globalization changed the nature of it. According to his research at The Coller Institute, the four main players in the venture model are public authorities; institutional investors; venture capitalists; and entrepreneurs. The five main findings regarding the global venture ecosystem include:

1. There exist a lot of problems, ideas, platforms and capital and

therefore, venture is on the rise.

2. It is harder for traditional big players / corporations to survive and

hence, there are fewer jobs in the conventional job market.

However, as venture is booming, there will be more jobs in

innovative ventures.

3. Globalization of knowledge and capital are making geographic

locations of businesses irrelevant.

4. Public authorities, especially at the national/city level, play a

major role in the venture ecosystem as public policies can be

changed to drive the economy. However, the authorities ought to

be very focused and creative in order to support the growth of

venture.

5. Building the local venture ecosystem is an on-going and evolving

task and therefore, a call for new leaders in venture are crucial in

the development of the global venture ecosystem.

The evening evolved into

a round-table discussion

in which local

e n t r e p r e n e u r s ,

institutional investors,

venture capitalists,

academics and students

shared their views on

entrepreneurial thinking

and the venture

ecosystem. They also grasped the chance to relate Hong Kong’s

venture development to the Israeli venture boom.

Entrepreneurship Bootcamp to cultivate innovative ambiance on campus (17-19 Jan 2014)The first PolyU Entrepreneurship Bootcamp was successfully held by the Institute for Entrepreneurship from 17 to 19 January 2014. During the two-and-a-half days, 65 participants, ranging from full-time students to alumni within 3 years of graduation, had the opportunity to find like-minded teammates from different backgrounds and disciplines and receive comprehensive entrepreneurship training.

The Bootcamp started after dark on Friday 17 January 2014 when participants gathered in the plush setting of Fiona Cheung Sum Yu Lecture Theatre at the Student’s Hall of Residence, Hunghom. Entrepreneurial spirit was kindled through ice-breaking activities, networking and pitching sessions and a simple yet gratifying dinner together. Teams were effectively formed with no single person left out.

Training workshops on entrepreneurial thinking, user experience, business models and business plans took place on the second day. A group of 10 mentors with hands-on startup experience and knowledge were highly acclaimed for their generous sharing of methodology and intuition during teamwork sessions which also constituted the majority of the final day at the Bootcamp. 16 projects were presented to the judges in the afternoon to compete for the winning places.

“Mentors shared a lot of actual field experience which we can never learn from the textbooks,” one of the participants commented, “the Bootcamp gave us an opportunity to meet and collaborate with new friends, to refine our business idea with the help of peers and mentors and ignited our fire to join other entrepreneurship programmes available out there.”

The 3 winning teams will get direct entry to Micro Fund 2014’s final round and seats for joining the PolyU/Fudan Entrepreneurship Bootcamp in Shanghai during the summer of 2014. The Bootcamp served as a warm-up event for those inclined to participate in the PolyU Micro Fund Scheme with the aim to cultivate innovative ambiance and foster entrepreneurial spirit within the PolyU community.

NEWS

Entrepreneurship

2

Seminar on “E-Commerce and Technology to Maximize Retail Profits” (19 Mar 2014)A seminar on e-commerce and retail technology, featuring

technology solutions / services from Micro Fund awardees

Appchitect, Dreamfish Digital Media, Haylott Digital and Nimbus

Insight, was organized on 19 March with over 50 retail professionals

attending. Appchitect showcased their patented QR code

technology for developing mobile applications for shop owners and

mall operations to facilitate increased sales while customers are

waiting to be seated in nearby restaurants. Dreamfish helps provide

clients with e-commerce solutions to build brands and launch new

products especially in the Chinese mainland market. Haylott Digital

transforms the traditional shop window displays into “Smart WinDS”

which integrates content management, motion sensing and

information distribution, for a brand new shopping experience for

customers. Nimbus Insight conducts market research using latest

communication tools and generates real-time research results.

China Entrepreneurship Forum (22 Mar 2014)China Entrepreneurship Forum was successfully held at PolyU

Shenzhen Base on 22 March 2014. It attracted around 100

participants including young graduates, entrepreneurs, startup

incubators from Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The forum started with

keynote speaker Mr Xiao Xu, Partner and CEO of Innovalley sharing

on the latest trends of internet and IT startups in China, followed by an

introduction of the incubation support available in Shenzhen and

Shanghai, and sharing by Shenzhen young entrepreneurs. It

concluded with a visit to Nanshan Yungu Innovative Industry Zone

which offers office space and business services to young

entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

NEWS

Entrepreneurship

3

Launched in 2013, China Entrepreneurship Fund is a new entrepreneurship initiative offering RMB200,000 for new startups set up in Shenzhen or Shanghai. Funds were granted to 8 startups in 2013 with businesses ranging from information platform, urban planning and design, social media optimization to design and development of car display panel, etc.

Campus Sustainability Weeks (24 Mar – 4 Apr 2014)2014 Micro Fund Innovation Stream awardees took part in the Campus Sustainability Weeks hosted by the Campus Sustainability Committee to promote environmental awareness in the PolyU community.

In line with the theme for Micro Fund 2014 Innovation Stream “Innovate for a Sustainable Campus”, 2 groups of grand award winners displayed their creative solutions to build a green and sustainable campus at the Green Carnival, an opening event to the Campus Sustainability Weeks. They were “The ERA”, a hydroponic campus water planting project, and “Green Café”, upcycled handicrafts made with coffee grounds. Posters of the 4 projects with Grand Awards and 5 with Merit Awards were displayed on campus throughout the two weeks.

STEFG-PolyU China Entrepreneurship Fund calls for submission (16 May 2014)The first ever China-Hong Kong Entrepreneurship parallel fund for

graduates jointly launched by PolyU and Shanghai Technology

Entrepreneurship Foundation for Graduates (STEFG) is calling for

submissions. The Scheme provides seed

funding of RMB200,000 for PolyU students

and alumni to start their businesses in

China (Shanghai and Shenzhen).

Interested parties can visit the website

www.polyu.edu.hk/ife/cef for more details.

Submission deadline is 16 May 2014.

Entrepreneur Day @ HKCEC (2-3 May 2014)Organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to address

society's needs in finding possible ways to develop entrepreneurship,

Entrepreneur Day is a 2-day event providing a platform for information

exchange and experience sharing in starting new businesses. PolyU

will participate with a booth at Hall 1D (booth C15-17) to introduce our

various entrepreneurship funding schemes and trainings programmes.

Recruitment for Fudan-PolyU High Potential Entrepreneurial Leadership (HiPEL) Program (Jun-Aug 2014)PolyU and Fudan University are jointly offering a series of entrepreneurship

education programmes for young entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and

Shanghai. The “High Potential Entrepreneurial Leadership Programme”

is open for enrollment for its second intake in June 2014. It aims

to strengthen leadership skills of young

entrepreneurs with 3-5 years of experience,

and to re-align their business model for

sustainable growth. The programme will be

delivered in both Hong Kong and Shanghai,

offering dynamic learning experience and

cultural interactions among the participants.

Enrollment is now open!

Recruitment – “From Research to Business – Nurturing Technopreneurs” Training ProgramA three-weekend entrepreneurship training programme tailor-made

for PolyU research students and staff will be held in June 2014. Featuring

an online learning tool and in-depth practical workshops, the training

programme aims to nurture a batch of “technopreneurs” with both

technical as well as business and entrepreneurship knowledge in order

to facilitate the knowledge transfer of PolyU’s technologies. For details,

please visit www.polyu.edu.hk/ife on upcoming events or contact us

at tel: 3400-2621 or email winnie.yi.ho@polyu.edu.hk

UPCOM

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ACTIVITI

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Mr Paul WangDevelopment Manager(Tech Transfer & Commercialization)

Institute for Entrepreneurship

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Tel.: +852 3400-2703

Email: paul.p.wang@polyu.edu.hk

Mr Raymond Chu, CFAAssistant Director(Entrepreneurship & Commercialization)

Institute for Entrepreneurship

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Tel.: +852 3400-2715

Email: raymond.cy.chu@polyu.edu.hk

Contact Us:

Entrepreneurship