The Hong Kong workshop teaching kids to make drones, robots, wearable tech and 3D printers: MakerBay the new high-tech haven for young innovators

Newly opened space for inventors to swap ideas and teach informal classes lets kids and adults build their own drones, robots - even 3D printers

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Kids get stuck in during a hands-on class at MakerBay. Photo: Handout

Published: 2:45pm, 10 Feb 2016Updated: 5:36pm, 10 Feb 2016

Joe Chew is only six years old but he has already built his own drone and inspired his father to teach a class on quadcopters to six young kids at Hong Kong’s MakerBay, a place for inventors to pool ideas, mingle, teach and learn in Kowloon that officially opened January 30.

On the last Sunday of January, Chew junior was busy handing out scissors and other equipment as an assistant to his father, who hails from Malaysia, at their first drone-making class in the city.

Drone enthusiast Ken Chew wanted to show that unmanned aerial vehicles, as drone makers prefer to call them, are more than just toys.

WATCH: Build your own drone, robot or 3D printer at Hong Kong’s MakerBay

“Now drone technology has become such a commercial thing, you can go to any hobby shop and buy one,” Chew senior said.

“I’m trying to spread awareness so that people understand that drones are not necessarily a bad thing, they can do a lot of good.”

Sales of drones that function as “flying cameras” took off in a big way last year and local manufacturers

expect the global market to double in size annually for the next few years.