The Innovation & Technology Fund Internship Programme encourages university graduates to pursue a career in I&T to nurture more local talent for the industry.
Launched in 2004, the programme has so far helped over 2,300 interns with funding of more than $480 million.
There are now more than 410 ongoing internships. Polytechnic University graduate Arthur Kwong is one of them.
Graduating with a master's degree in biomedical engineering last year, Arthur joined the Nano & Advanced Materials Institute as an intern. His projects include the development of nanofiber facemasks.
"I have been involved in some experimental and scientific jobs, like developing a new formulation for the facemask. It has an anti-bacterial feature. Any bacteria in the air in contact with our facemask will be killed within a short period of time."
Crucial experience
The internship has boosted Arthur’s knowledge in the field, and he hopes to continue his scientific research.
"I have learned a lot of ways to do experiments and research. I have been able to develop my own logical and critical thinking which is definitely very important as a researcher."
His supervisor, Nano & Advanced Materials Institute Technical Manager Boris Tong, said he is pleased with Arthur’s performance.
"In the laboratory Arthur works very well with other colleagues. He not only works hard on his own project but also helps others with their projects.
"During the past year Arthur has shown great improvement in different aspects - interpersonal skills, presentation skills, laboratory skills and also critical thinking."
Mr Tong said the internship programme facilitates progress in scientific research.
"A project usually involves a lot of tedious work and is time-consuming. Without the help of interns, it is difficult for engineers and project leaders to conduct all the experiments within a short period of time."
Key projects
Mr Tong said they have made the world’s first N99-qualified nanofiber facemask.
"Because of its high breathability, people can wear the N99 facemask for the whole day during meetings, or jogging, without any discomfort."
The facemask is one of the research and development projects funded by the Innovation & Technology Fund.
Organisations undertaking projects like this can receive funding under the internship programme to recruit two graduates from local universities as interns.
The internship allowance is $14,000 for graduates with a bachelor's degree and $16,500 for graduates with a master's degree or higher. The maximum internship period is two years.
Boosting determination
The Nano & Advanced Materials Institute is one of the five R&D Centres set up by the Government in 2006 to drive and co-ordinate applied R&D in selected focus areas and to promote commercialisation of R&D results and technology transfer.
Another one of the five is the Productivity Council’s Automotive Parts & Accessory Systems Research & Development Centre.
Polytechnic University graduate Anson Ng, who has a bachelor's degree in electronic and information engineering, joined the development centre as a trainee consultant in 2009 under the internship programme.
"My working scope is to support the Innovation & Technology Fund funded project, a research project to develop the Advanced Driver Assistant System.
"The Driver Assistant System is a device to detect a vehicle via image processing technology and then warn the driver accordingly to prevent any possible collisions."
Anson chose to stay in the council after his internship to participate in and lead different R&D projects, including a tail lift project for trucks which uses optical-sensor technology to enhance transport safety.
He has also helped develop various e-payment and management systems for an electric vehicle charging system.
He said his internship has given him greater determination to continue his career in this industry.
"The internship has allowed me to apply my learned skills into practical applications, which we cannot do in our laboratory," he said.
"I also developed my personal network during the internship with many mega-organisations in Hong Kong. That favours my career development in the future."
