Judging Panel

We are immensely grateful to our esteemed panel of judges for their expertise and dedication in evaluating the innovative projects presented during our Hackathon Demo Pitch Day on 1 November 2025.

Youth Empowerment and Inclusion

Dr Mung Wai Yin Steve, EdUHK
Dr Sean Mcminn, HKUST
Ms Catis Cheung, Po Leung Kuk
Ms Dorothy Wong, Intimate Connection Centre

Social Resilience and Adaptation

Dr Erwin Huang, HKUST
Dr Kristen Li, HKBU
Mr Daniel Lo, Gogochart

Sustainable Design and Biodiversity

Professor Shauhrat S. Chopra, CityUHK
Dr Ricky Tsui, Arup
Dr Felix Leung, CUHK
Professor Kaimin Shih, HKU

Artistic and Cultural Innovation

Professor Amy Cheung, CUHK
Professor Matthew Thibeault, EdUHK
Professor Nina Xie, LUHK
Ms Zaf Chow, Artifact Labs

Dr Mung Wai Yin Steve, Assistant Professor, Knowledge Transfer Sub-office, The Education University of Hong Kong

Dr Mung has more than 15 years of industrial experience in operations, design and manufacturing of wireless electronic products from semiconductors to consumer products. He was the Test and Operations Director in Sana Semiconductors Ltd., which is a start-up company in 2010. He built up the team and setup a first automated chipset testing system (qualified by Samsung Mobile Division) in Hong Kong with complete automated production flow in 2016. He is Chartered Engineer (CEng, Engineering Council,UK) and Chartered Scientist (CSci, Science Council, UK).

Dr Sean McMinn, Director, Center for Education Innovation, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Dr Sean McMinn is the Director of Center for Educational Innovation at HKUST. Having nearly 20 years’ experience in higher education, Sean has taught a range of subjects, such as Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning, Business Communications, EAP, Digital Literacies, and Social Complex Systems, and has interests in learning design, educational technology, digital literacies, and networked learning. He won a Teaching Innovation Award in 2007 for his work with podcasts and education at HKUST and a SHSS Teaching Award in 2015.

Ms Catis Cheung, Deputy Head, Youth Affairs Department, Po Leung Kuk

Catis Cheung is the Deputy Head of the Youth Affairs Department at Po Leung Kuk—one of Hong Kong’s largest charity organisations, founded in 1878 and dedicated to “Protecting the Young and the Innocent.” Before joining Po Leung Kuk, she gained solid management and project execution experience at the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management and the Hong Kong Young Industrialists Council. Passionate about youth development, Catis focuses on initiatives that support young entrepreneurs.

Ms Dorothy Wong, Director/Founder of Intimate Connection Centre

Ms. Dorothy Wong is an experienced counsellor, a dedicated life coach, and the founder of the Intimate Connection Centre. Holding dual master’s degrees and a postgraduate diploma in lifelong learning, her work focuses on empowering individuals. She is certified in Enneagram, Positive Psychology, Growth Mindset, and Family Therapy, and she is passionate about unlocking potential. Ms. Wong has led numerous seminars and professional training programs for teachers and parents in both local and international schools. Through her work with NGOs and charitable organizations, she has consistently supported youth development and empowerment, devoting her career to helping young people create a more inclusive and hopeful future.

Prof Erwin Huang, Adjunct Professor, Division of Integrative Systems and Design, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Professor Erwin Huang, a seasoned entrepreneur-turned-educator, has pioneered numerous innovative education projects ranging from K12 entrepreneurship education with Dreamstarter to incorporating AGI in university-level experiential courses. Prof. Huang has been actively promoting AI literacy and pedagogy in various K12 schools and leading professional development for teaching communities.  As an angel investor and mentor, he has a wealth of experience in leading startups, public companies, and social enterprises in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Tokyo, Silicon Valley, and London. His entrepreneurial expertise extends to successfully guiding multiple companies through the process of going public in Hong Kong and Europe. Additionally, he held leadership roles for a decade, including managing one of the largest luxury companies in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Beyond his founding roles, he serves on several advisory committees for companies and schools, contributing his expertise to various educational and social initiatives. 

Dr Kristen Li, Senior Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, Hong Kong Baptist University

Dr. Kristen Yuanxi Li (Senior Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, Hong Kong Baptist University) worked as a social entrepreneur before she joined HKBU. She has been teaching courses at Bachelor and Master levels. She developed and has been teaching several new GE courses in all three levels, including “Design for Smart City: Towards a Sustainable Living”, “Design Thinking and IT Empower Social Innovation”, “The Coming of AI and What It Means for Our Communities” and “Life is a Game, How to Win”. Dr. Li has been invited as a speaker in local and international conferences and workshops to share her teaching pedagogy. She also won several international teaching awards, including the Learning Technologist of the Year 2020 from ALT UK, and has been awarded three teaching grants. Dr. Li has been the Lead of the international workshop Design for Sustainability.

Mr. Daniel Lo, CEO and Founder, Gogochart

Mr Daniel Lo is a serial 2 x exit entrepreneur, with a strong track record and over 10 years of experience in digital transformation, strategy and growth. He is the Founder and CEO of GoGoChart, an AI digital marketing technology company specialising in global growth strategy, brand activation, and digital optimisation using AI technology. Since 2015, Daniel and his team have consulted Alibaba, Tencent, Bank of China, HSBC, Trip.com, Uber, Riot Games, Fortune 100 companies and over 2000+ apps globally.

Professor Shauhrat S. Chopra, Associate Professor, School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong

Prof. Shauhrat S. Chopra, Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies at the School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), specializes in the sustainability and resilience of complex systems. His research develops quantitative assessment methods for critical infrastructure systems and emerging technologies, informing policy and investment decisions. He holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (2015) and conducted postdoctoral research on life cycle assessment and sustainable design at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dr Ricky Tsui, Director of Research and Development, Arup East Asia

Dr Ricky Tsui has been leading ARUP’s R&D since 2008, to drive various research, creativity, and innovation activities in the East Asian region. He is the Arup University Leader, Knowledge Management Leader & Shenzhen Digital Acceleration Hub Leader and leads the pursuit of Design and Technical Excellence in the company. His work covers the entire knowledge value-chain from anticipating knowledge needs through to various foresight and innovation initiatives, developing new knowledge through managing different R&D projects, in collaboration with external partners and facilitating the dissemination of developed and captured knowledge through various Communities of Practice, to knowledge empowerment through organizing informal and formal learning activities under Arup University. Ricky also practises and teaches design thinking in many innovative projects and training courses. He has been the Region Ventures Champion for many years and helps promote intrapreneurship from harvesting new ideas to developing commercial products/services.

Dr Felix Leung, Head of Climate Education and Action, The CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change

Dr. Felix Leung is a dedicated environmental scientist with a robust background in environmental and biological sciences. His academic training includes a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Imperial College London and a PhD from the University of Exeter, providing a strong foundation for his interdisciplinary research on sustainable development. His postdoctoral work at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was marked by significant contributions, including co-leading two pioneering studies: one that established the impact of ozone on crop productivity, and another that assessed the cumulative effects of urbanization, pollution, and climate change on wetland ecosystem health. Transitioning to applied science, Dr. Leung served as a climate change researcher at The Nature Conservancy (TNC). In this role, he was instrumental in developing Hong Kong’s first-ever Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) Climate Report, a key document that promotes practical, ecological strategies for enhancing urban resilience. Currently, Dr. Leung applies his expertise at the CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change. He is focused on climate advocacy and public education, where he excels at translating complex scientific findings into actionable knowledge for the broader community.

Professor Kaimin Shih, Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong

Professor Kaimin Shih received his Ph.D. and postdoctoral training in Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. He established “Environmental Materials Research Group” in the Faculty of Engineering at HKU in 2008 to engineer and employ material properties for innovative environmental and energy applications, such as various waste-to-resource strategies, environmentally-friendly materials/products, urban pollution prevention, water and waste treatment technologies, and energy-storage materials. Professor Shih is listed among the HKU Scholars in the Top 1% for his research achievement, and he also received the university’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 2014 for his contribution to environmental sustainability education.

Professor Amy Cheung, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Urban Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Prof. Amy Cheung, a Hong Kong-born research-led artist and adjunct associate professor in Urban Studies at CUHK, brings a unique transdisciplinary perspective to the intersection of art, culture, and sustainability. With academic training spanning art history, mixed media, and psychology in education, her work explores ecological and societal fractures through poetic, rigorous, and empathetic approaches. Amy’s extensive experience—ranging from representing Hong Kong at the Venice Biennale to receiving international accolades such as the UNESCO-Aschberg Laureate—demonstrates her commitment to preserving and innovating within cultural domains. Her teaching, including courses like Designing Care in the Commons and a new experiential course on sustainability through artistic and scientific lenses, reflects her dedication to cultural accessibility, heritage revitalization, and socially engaged art. Amy’s deep engagement with both traditional and contemporary practices makes her exceptionally well-suited to judge projects that aim to preserve, promote, and reimagine cultural and artistic sustainability in inclusive and transformative ways.

Professor Matthew Thibeault, Associate Professor, Department of Cultural and Creative Arts, The Education University of Hong Kong

Matthew D. Thibeault is Associate Professor of the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts. Thibeault received his MA and Ph.D. degrees in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education at Stanford University. Thibeault’s interests and research concern the connections between general music education, technology, and society. He has published in a variety of journals for researchers and practitioners, including the Journal of Research in Music Education (forthcoming), Music Education Research, and Arts Education Policy Review. Thibeault served as editor of the media section of the Oxford Handbook of Music Education.

Professor Xie Nina, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of Management; Centre Fellow, Dr Raymond Wong Research Centre for Arts Technology and Business

Prof. Nina XIE earned her Ph.D. in Management from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and her LLM from the City University of Hong Kong, and she is currently studying in Harvard’s Global Development Practice of the ALM program. She serves as an Assistant Professor of Teaching at the Department of Management, Lingnan University; she also acts as the Programme Director for the MSc in Arts Technology and Business (ATB) and a fellow for the same research center. Her research interests lie in the adaptation and formulation of soft law formalization, covering sustainability, corporate strategy, arbitration, and other soft law-applicable areas. She is now being funded to develop knowledge transfer projects for enhancing employee creativity and further promote pedagogy research involving eye-tracking to promote student engagement levels with the help of metaverse iterations. As an enthusiastic and welcomed instructor for undergraduate and postgraduate students, she’s known for enhancing student engagement and creativity through innovative methods like incorporating AI tools like ChatGPT into the curriculum. Her commitment to promoting digital literacy in education is demonstrated by her leadership roles in program development and operations, and in providing training and workshops to sister higher education institutions in Hong Kong. Beyond academia, Nina also possessed rich industrial experience in the United Nations, international commodity trading and shipping, consulting, and social entrepreneurship.

Ms Zaf Chow, Chief Commercial Officer, Artifact Labs

Zaf Chow is a seasoned leader driving innovation at the intersection of emerging technologies and business. As Chief Commercial Officer at Artifact Labs, she empowered arts and cultural institutions to protect and enhance their assets using AI-driven authenticity and blockchain verification. Previously, as Director of Digital Strategy and Partnerships at Animoca Brands, she played a key role in advancing Web3 adoption. Zaf also served as a director for Alipay Hong Kong and founded QUICKER, a fintech startup for food ordering. Her entrepreneurial impact earned her the Innovation and Change-making Entrepreneurship Award from InvestHK. As a recognized thought leader, Zaf was invited to speak at TEDx on decentralized technology. She has also taught university core courses on Web3 and AI applications in business and entertainment, shaping future leaders.