Our AIS students were selected to partake in the activities organized by The Asian Science and Technology Pioneering Institutes of Research and Education (ASPIRE) League this year.

Minjin GU, a year 4 student from the Dual Degree Program in Technology and Management (T&M-DDP), participated in the ASPIRE League Undergraduate Engineering Design Challenge (UEDC) 2023 held in Tokyo, Japan. UEDC is an annual engineering design challenge program for students from ASPIRE League member universities: HKUST, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Nanyang Technological University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Tsinghua University.

Teaming up with 4 engineering students from other member universities, Minjin developed an alcohol detection sweat patch with a flower-shaped LED design. The patch is specifically designed for participants of the Japanese ‘Coming of Age Day’ event, who are likely to consume alcohol for the first time as they have just reached adulthood. It indicates the alcohol level of each participant, allowing the event staff to take appropriate measures and prevent potential accidents related to excessive alcohol consumption.

‘My interdisciplinary education background as a T&M-DDP student definitely made the experience even more unique.’ Drawing from her TEMG3950 experience, Minjin effectively guided her team members in consolidating their pitch by identifying pain points and transforming them into valuable solutions for users.

On the other hand, Leslie Anne Lopez YASIS, a PhD Candidate in Environmental Science, Policy and Management (ESPM), joined the ASPIRE Forum 2023 held at KAIST in Daejeon, South Korea.

Before the Forum unfolded, an online Student Workshop took place where Leslie worked with postgraduate students from member universities to develop a proposal titled "Improving the sustainability of target population by designing a new care model using science and technology". This comprehensive AI-based care model for different-stage dementia patients won the first place in the design challenge for this year's forum.

Themed "Technology and Stewardship for Sustainable Global Future", the annual forum brought together vice presidents and student representatives from member universities to share reports on inter-league exchanges and research collaborations.