2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

An Experiential Learning Framework to Harvest Synergy from College and Industry Partnership

Presented at Industry Advisory Boards, Experiential Learning

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics presents substantial opportunities for innovation across diverse sectors. Industrial enterprises are actively seeking partnership with universities to develop effective testbed scenarios for integrating these emerging technologies into their operations and talent development. On the other hand, college students studying computer science, engineering or relevant fields possess fundamental knowledge of AI and robotics but often lack practical experience and exposure to real-world applications.
This paper reports on an on-going collaborative initiative between the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing at The University of Hong Kong (or HKU InnoWing) and the Workforce Training Center of MTR, a public transport company in Hong Kong. The study identifies the challenges and opportunities in bridging this gap and proposes an experiential learning framework designed to empower college students with practical experience, while simultaneously equipping the staff from the industrial enterprise with insights necessary for successful technology adoption, knowledge transfer, and staff competency development required in workplace. Evaluation based on the self-reflections collected from the first cohort of three HKU InnoWing students and five MTR staff indicates positive outcomes from the experiential learning framework. Additionally, teaching materials as well as the programming codes for robots underscore the achievements of this collaborative initiative. The paper concludes with a discussion and future work to further advance this initiative.
The proposed experiential learning framework consists of several key components designed to foster synergistic collaboration between HKU InnoWing students and MTR staff. On the one hand, HKU InnoWing students organized three progressive workshops to equip MTR staff on how to program a robotic arm serving as the foundations for the testbed scenarios. This hands-on teaching approach not only reinforced the students' understanding of robotic operations programming and improved their interpersonal skills, but also demystify the robot arms for the staff and empowered them with the ability to program robots. In parallel, MTR staff arranged technical visits to familiarize HKU InnoWing students with the industrial work environment in depots, training centers, and frontlines, and outlining potential tasks that the robotic arms could fulfill within their operational framework. A collaborative project was conducted in a scenario-based learning approach, where a robotic system for cleaning CNC machines was developed to evaluate the outcomes of the previous hands-on workshops.
We observed that this collaboration allowed students to gain insights into real-world applications and operational challenges faced by the public transportation industry while boosting the industrial partner’s confidence in exploring the development of testbed scenarios and equipping the frontline staff with the applications of the technologies. The synergistic partnership between the university and the industrial enterprise enhances both parties' understanding and capabilities in technology integration and deployment, ultimately benefiting students from the educational institution and talents within the industry partner. We also note that this co-training model can be generalized to other industries.

Authors

Dr. LEI YANG http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3284-4019 University of Hong Kong [biography]

Dr. Lei Yang is a lecturer of Innovation Academy of the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing under the Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong. Before that, he worked as a Research Officer at Centre of Transformative Garment Production from 2021 to 2023 and as a postdoctoral fellow at Department of Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong from 2018 to 2021. Dr. Yang received his Bachelor's degree and Ph.D. degree from Dalian University of Technology in 2012 and 2018, respectively. Dr. Yang's research interests include Computer-Aided Design, Computer-Aided Engineering, and Geometry Modeling and Multimedia.
Chun Kit Chan The University of Hong Kong [biography]

Ryan Chan Chun Kit is a Technical Officer with a title of Student Project Development Officer of Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing in the Faculty of Engineering, the University of Hong Kong. During his experience working in Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing, Ryan has been involving in numerous teaching, development and outreach programmes.
Throughout his academic journey, Ryan has excelled in various engineering projects and research endeavours. He has been actively involved in designing workshops on cutting-edge technologies such as embedded systems, ROS and IoT. Additionally, Ryan has led an undergraduate student research team on robotics, developing various types of AI robotics for teaching and industrial use.
Moreover, Ryan has been contributing to the community of Robotics through volunteer means. He has served as an Adviser for BREED and Nestspace at HKU, where he offers consultation and guidance on various projects. Ryan's technical proficiency includes 3D Printing, robotics, 3D modelling and mechanical machining.
Dr. Kin Sun Lam MTR Corporation [biography]

Dr. LAM Kin Sun, Martin is the Senior Technical Training Manager at the Operations Training Department of the MTR Corporation. Dr. Lam has made significant contributions to the field of technical training and management. In his current role, Dr. Lam manages a team of over 50 staff members who provides technical training to nearly 18,000 employees in MTR. He also oversees more than 400 Railway Technical Trainee and nearly 100 Graduate Engineer training schemes. Previously, Dr. Lam was the Programme Manager at MTR Academy, where he developed HKCAAVQ accredited programmes and collaborated with various institutions to promote railway studies.
Dr. Chun Kit Chui University of Hong Kong [biography]

Dr. Chun Kit Chui serves as the Director of the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). The Innovation Wing aims to unleash students' creativity by entrusting them to spearhead ambitious innovation and technology projects that will shape the future. This iconic facility is situated at the heart of the campus, offering 2400m2 of space with state-of-the-art resources and a supportive environment to enhance hands-on and experiential learning for undergraduate students.

In addition to his role as Director, Dr. Chui holds the position of Assistant Dean (Teaching and Learning) in the Faculty of Engineering at HKU, responsible for driving curriculum reform and active learning activities. His research interests include database and data mining, as well as pedagogical research in engineering education.

Dr. Chui has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the University Distinguished Teaching Award (Individual Award) at the University of Hong Kong for the 2024-25 academic year, the University Outstanding Teaching Award (Individual Award) at the University of Hong Kong for the 2015-16 academic year, and the Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award (Individual Award) in the Faculty of Engineering for the 2023-24 and 2012-13 academic years. Additionally, he has been honoured with the Teaching Excellence Award in the Department of Computer Science for the academic years 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16. Furthermore, he was a shortlisted candidate for the UGC Teaching Award (Early Career Faculty Member).

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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