Intertek Hong Kong Supports STEM Education in the Local Community
08 Aug 2022
Nurturing a growing community of future STEM talents and professionals
Over the past years, Intertek Hong Kong has demonstrated its valued support to STEM education, partnering with a variety of educational organizations such as Vocational Training Council (VTC), as well as primary and secondary schools, to promote STEM development for the younger generation.
In July 2022, Intertek extended its partnership with the VTC STEM Education Centre. Through the Industry Partner Collaboration Scheme, we can promote and arouse young learners’ interest in STEM study and career development.
Established in 1982, VTC is the largest vocational and professional education and training provider in Hong Kong. Its STEM Education Centre organizes learning activities regularly to nurture STEM talents with technology-enhanced approaches.
During the pandemic, VTC hosted virtual tours for primary school students, showcasing how a maze was solved by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and how Internet of things (IoT) improves our daily lives, with the demonstration of the Bus Route App and the Digital Aquarium. Our Toys and Hardlines Director Dorothy Lau was the speaker at the events. Leveraging her knowledge, she explained the mechanism behind machine learning, and why IoT and AI together make the perfect match.
Dorothy was also invited to be on the judges panel for the VTC STEM Challenge Cup 2021 with the theme of “Navigating the New Normal”. Says Dorothy: “It’s my honour to be one of the judges. The passion and creativity of the young scientists truly impressed me. Their ideas all have great potential for commercialization. I love to share my advice with them so that their innovation may one day revolutionize the way we live.”
In addition to education organizations, Intertek has also worked with schools. Since 2018, Intertek has partnered with the Chairman of iSTEM Ed Association, Mr. Patrick Tang Man Hon, also known as STEM Sir. A number of STEM-themed webinars were hosted during the pandemic for local and international schools. Youngsters were introduced to STEM concepts and real-life applications. We also introduced them to toys and games which have been verified by our STEM Toy Mark Programme, such as an animal puzzle with Augmented Reality (AR), a toy with simple circuit and an animal chess game. Nevertheless, the first-ever Hong Kong STEM Toy fair was organized by the team.
Says Dorothy: “Having been a close partner of VTC for many years, we are so glad to be extending our partnership. We are looking forward to future career sharing sessions, company visit opportunities, or any other ways we can collaborate. Intertek will continue to support VTC to the best of our abilities.”
Says John Qin, Senior Vice President: “We are excited to contribute to strengthening STEM education in the local community. It is impressive to see these young talents observing, investigating and solving problems to improve our daily lives. We truly value our collaboration with such an exceptional group of education professionals. We hope our collective effort will continue to inspire more bright young minds so that they can become tomorrow’s STEM leaders.”
