Three engineering students from the Institute of Vocational Education are gearing up to take on regional rivals tomorrow for the chance to represent China in an international contest.
The winning team will travel to Canada next September for the finals of the World Skills International Competition, held once every two years.
'This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, because I will be too old next time,' said Leung Kai-wing, 23, who won the mechatronics section of the Hong Kong Youth Skills Competition last month.
The contest challenges students to construct an automated process to perform a series of tasks, including writing the computer programme to control it.
'Everything is against the clock so you have to work really quickly,' said Mr Leung, a higher diploma student in engineering management. 'You have to be really familiar with all the components and know exactly what you are doing or you waste too much time. The most important thing is you have to think creatively, because this is all about problem-solving skills.'
His teammates, mechanical engineering students Suen Kai-ho and Mak Yung-tak, both 21, came runners-up in the local round of the competition. Mr Suen said he had initially found the mechatronics - a mixture of electronics, mechanics and computing - confusingly complex, but had grown to love the challenge.
