18 students from Dual Degree Program in Technology & Management (T&M DDP) flew to Singapore to join students from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Renaissance Engineering Programme and University of California, Berkeley, to work on “Water for Life” startup businesses from 30 May to 8 June 2015. Students worked in cross-culture and multi-discipline teams to develop and present business plans to a panel of esteemed industry experts.  Both HKUST and NTU student are dual-degree Engineering and Business undergraduates, while UC Berkeley had several graduate students who have completed MBA or MSc degrees in Water-related subjects.  There was even a student who spent a year in the Africa on water projects, a journalist and philosopher and serial entrepreneur in the mix!

The 10-day itinerary packed student’s mind with richness in culture, science, technology, and their stomach with full flavors of Southeast Asian cuisine.  Students visited local water facilities like NEWRI water research institutes to gain first-hand knowledge. They also received trainings on business plan preparation and fund-raising from successful entrepreneurs resident in NTuitive, NTU’s incubator on campus. Industry mentors were scheduled to coach students throughout the week to polish them up for the big day. 

3 winning teams were Aquaβ, WaveMaker and SeaCow. They covered innovations in water flowmeter with mobile app, crowd funding for water projects and even innovation in feed for cows! One of panel judge appreciated the project team so much that he approached the students to join their startup team after the competition!

This was indeed a work hard and play hard amazing trip!