CUHK
News Centre

The Faculty of Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) held an inauguration ceremony today (January 26) for the setting up of the Centre for Robotics and Technology Education (CRATE) with an aim to promote technology education among primary and secondary schools in the local territory.

Mr. David T.Y. Mong, Chairman of Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund; Mr. Zhang Keke, Vice Chairman of Shenzhen Association for Science and Technology; and Prof. Michael K.M. Hui, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor, CUHK officiated at the ceremony. About 100 students and teachers from over 10 primary and secondary schools attended the ceremony, which showcased some 30 robotic designs of students. Most of the students had joined workshops and competitions organized by CRATE.

On behalf of CUHK, Prof. Michael K.M. Hui thanked the Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund for its generous sponsorship. The Director of CRATE, Prof. Liu Yun-hui, shared a series of exciting new projects and activities of the Centre, including the Internet Robotics Innovation Park (IRIP), a project supported by the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) and Quality Education Fund (QEF). “Not every single secondary and primary school is equipped with a laboratory to support students in realizing their robotic designs. IRIP is designed to give students an online platform to share and stimulate their robotic projects. Successful designs will also be implemented in our laboratories,” said Prof. Liu.

Apart from IRIP, the fourth Internet Robotics Inter-school Competition (IRIS) is formally named as “2008 National Internet Robotics Inter-school Competition”. Co-organized by the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, the Hong Kong Technology Education Association and CRATE, this year’s IRIS will be expanded to include participants from major mainland cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Guangxi, Zhejiang and Macau). A total of 128 national teams will come to CUHK campus in July to participate in a six-day summer camp and compete at the finals.

For more details on the “2008 National Internet Robotics Inter-school Competition”, please check out the website below:
http://www.erg.cuhk.edu.hk/iris/

About the Internet Robotics Innovation Park (IRIP):

Robot competitions are popularly used worldwide to promote innovation and technology. This project proposes to develop an internet-based platform called “Internet Robotics Innovation Park (IRIP)” to facilitate the general public to learn and experience state-of-the-art technologies and to display their creations through internet-based robot competitions. The IRIP is a new and innovative concept that connects humans to robots in cyberspace and enables remote human-robot and human-human interactions.

The following activities are made possible through IRIP: one can design robots and verify his designs using simulation tools; share his designs with the others; tele-control remote robots; and participate in various internet robot competitions. Moreover, one can fabricate his robots using the services of the Park or the industrial partners. The platform can also be used for online interactive exhibition and shopping of robots, electronic toys, etc. The IRIP will be one of the most effective platforms for promoting innovation and technology and will benefit the community as a whole.