Inno Fair inspires in spite of pandemic
By Andrea Chow and Aidan Lai
On October 10th, in the Performing Arts Centre at Renaissance College, the annual innovation fair was hosted by Brendan Mah and a team of Year 13 students at RCHK. The event included student presentations on a range of STEM projects and a number of speeches from experts in the field. The student participants were mentored by professors from a multitude of Hong Kong universities and worked extensively on their projects for weeks over the summer holiday.
To start off the day, Dr. Albert Wong, the CEO of Science Park, a centre focused on innovation and technology, gave a speech that set the tone for the hours following. “We need crazy people to come up with new ideas and inventions. We need people to make it work. What we do at Tolo Harbour in Science Park is to encourage the innovation part of it.” The innovation fair did the same thing, encourage people to be innovative and provide help. Help from university professors was provided, and participants were given the opportunity to explore new topics of their own choice.
The participant presentations were informative and captivating for all ages. The process of the making of these projects was just as interesting. There were a range of presentations which included topics like permutation, the effect of music on the human brain, space exploration, earthquake proof construction, and many more. The students’ presentations included everything about the process and why they chose the topic. COVID-19 may have affected their ability to innovate, but they still kept going! The presenters enjoyed the experience, process and presenting their final result!
Even though a strict social distancing layout plan was put in place, this did not change the effectiveness and attractiveness of the fair. With students working non-stop to ensure everyone had a wonderful experience, the fair was as successful as the other annual fairs, even when there were lots of safety measures in place!
People of all ages attended and enjoyed the fair, all the way from parents to Year Sevens! The fair was so appealing that, even from the start, the products impressed the visitors! One visitor said that “the products look very interesting,” showing that the variety of topics and their inventions made a strong first impression! Another parent visitor said, “They have many ideas; although some ideas you think are very simple or a very small idea, it’s actually a lot of knowledge or theories I can learn.” The reactions of visitors bore testimony to how hard the presenters worked, what they learned from the professors, and the rigor of their research process.
Student Abinav Khanna presenting to a parent