HKUST Annual Report 2023-2024

19 HKUST Annual Report 2023-2024 With our students’ keen interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, we successfully placed more than 1,000 interns through the STEM Internship Scheme, organized by InvestHK. We also sent over 140 students to join Mainland and overseas internship programs, placing them in major companies and organizations such as Ant Group, Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, John Swire & Sons, and Li & Fung, across locations including Australia, the Mainland, Europe, and Southeast Asia. To assist students navigate the post-graduation future, career education programs empowered over 8,000 students by enhancing their employability skills through diverse development programs. To further enrich the experience, 10 alumni trainer sessions provided valuable insights and real-world perspectives. Schools launched or added to alumni mentoring initiatives while a team of experienced in-house advisors, alumni, and career coaches conducted over 1,700 one-on-one career consultations to provide personalized guidance. Entrepreneurship Education and Industry Connection-Building Alongside theUniversity’sMinor Program inEntrepreneurship, jointly offered by the Schools of Science, Engineering, and Business and Management, the unleashing of undergraduate students’ entrepreneurial spirit and relevant practical skills is well supported by the HKUST Entrepreneurship Center (EC)’s wide-ranging activities. EC’s developments over the year included: • The renaming of EC’s mentorHUB@HKUST as the Mentorship Network to reflect the scheme’s emphasis on linking up mentors and mentees anytime, anywhere. Twenty-eight mentors from diverse industries and over 150 mentees from nearly 80 start-ups took part. • Provision of an inspiring physical hub for aspiring student entrepreneurs and start-ups in the renovated BASE. More opportunities were fostered through BASE workshops, training sessions, and networking. Over 1,000 visitors were welcomed in 2023-24, including HKSAR Chief Executive the Honourable John LEE Ka-Chiu. • EC’s participation in eight exhibitions bringing wider exposure, especially to venture capitalists, to over 40 teams to fuel business growth. In regional activities, the first Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Entrepreneurship Bootcamp gathered together 34 students from HKUST and leading international universities. The camp was co-organized by the EC, Office of the Vice-President for Institutional Advancement, and AUA. Investing in Innovators of Sustainable Tomorrow Sharpening our start-ups and research teams’ competitive edge and exposure, the Grand Final of the University’s flagship HKUST One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2023 was held at HKUST(GZ) in December. The contest brought together winners from six regions across China, with HKUST start-up Guangdong Guna Technology Co. Ltd. becoming the champion overall. The company’s leading-edge technologies center on polymer nanofilm and battery separators. By 2023, over 9,000 teams had participated in the contest since it began in 2011. In 2024, an international student track has been introduced for nominated teams from HKUST global partner universities to join the Hong Kong regional event, adding to the competition’s increasingly wide impact.