Students’ Unlimited Creativity Unveiled in ‘Master Code’ Award and Kick-off Ceremonies
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 28 June 2021 – Since 2016, Hong Kong Education City (EdCity) and Microsoft have co-organised the annual Master Code Competition. The award ceremony of ‘Master Code 2020: Create a Zero Hunger Future with AI’ was held on June 25. The organisers have also announced that the theme of ‘Master Code 2021’ is ‘Reimagine Health and Wellbeing with AI’, aiming to enhance students’ understanding on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare and wellbeing, where students can make use of their coding skills, along with creativity to design innovative solutions ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing at all ages, so as to co-create a healthy future.
Witnessed by a bunch of guests who joined in-person and through online, Mr Victor Cheng, Executive Director of EdCity unveiled the ceremony by his opening remarks. He expressed, ‘Technology is for mankind. As the masters of our future society, students should learn how to solve problems through logical thinking and to explore possibilities in improving our lives by utilising innovative technology. The participating schools last year performed impressively and presented professional designs. We were glad to see students applying the knowledge they learned in designing creative proposals to achieve “Zero Hunger”, which illustrated their spirit of global citizenship. This year, we are very honoured to jointly organise the “Master Code 2021” Competition with Microsoft for the sixth year. The theme of the competition aims to let teachers and students enjoy coding, at the same time to raise their awareness towards both physical and mental health. Artificial intelligence can lead the society to a healthier life – as long as we use AI creatively and ingeniously, a future filled with health is only a step away.’
Ms Serena Cheung , the Director of the Public Sector Group (PSG) at Microsoft, said ‘Artificial intelligence plays an important role in driving digital transformation; therefore, it is important to equip our next generations with AI-related skills and to help them be future ready. We are honoured to co-organise the annual “Master Code 2021” Competition with EdCity. The competition allows students to apply their programming skills and creativity in designing a practical solution to social issues, so as to contribute to a better society. There are many impressive proposals with a shared goal to achieve “Zero Hunger”, and I am impressed by how they leverage digital platforms such as Minecraft and PowerApps to present their innovative ideas. I look forward to learning more innovative insights into how to “Reimagine Health and Wellbeing with AI” from the upcoming competition.’
The competition saw the enthusiastic participation of students – with 14 vivid and diverse submissions and some with a global perspective showcasing students’ broad worldview. A judging panel evaluated the submissions and selected the teams from St. Anthony’s School, Tung Chung Catholic School (Secondary Section) and Carmel Divine Grace Foundation Secondary School as the champion of the Minecraft Education Edition – Primary School and Secondary School Divisions, and AI Application Design – Secondary School Division respectively. Highlights of their works include:
Students from St. Anthony’s School built a Zero Hunger Farm in Minecraft. They utilised Face API for facial recognition to reduce food waste by calculating food portion according to the user’s age and gender. The farm is also equipped with smart food ordering machines and food storehouses. A particularly thoughtful feature is the smart protective cover automatically created by the robot Agent. The winning entry by Tung Chung Catholic School (Secondary Section) features an ‘Unlimited Design AI-assisted Farm’. Within the farm, there is an International Food Exchange, where facial recognition is used to regulate currency exchange. Together with voice recognition, it helps users from around the world to overcome language barriers and facilitate communication and fair food trade. This entry is revealing students’ world vision. With the theme ‘Bug Food Matter’, the team from Carmel Divine Grace Foundation Secondary School leverages AI Builder and machine learning to analyse pests, which allow farmers to identify pests and thus come up with a solution to get rid of them. The team also builds a chatbot through Power Virtual Agents, which responds to users’ questions and provides more information about the pests . (Details of the awardees available in the appendix)
The new edition of the competition has three divisions: Minecraft Education Edition – Primary School (P1 to P6) and Minecraft Education Edition – Secondary School (S1 to S6), and AI Application Design – Secondary School (S1 to S6). The level in all divisions is according to 2021/22 school year.
There is no limit on the number of participating teams a school can take part. Each team must be comprised of two to four students, and each student can only participate in one team in each division. Each team is required to design one or more solutions with Microsoft Azure AI to improve human health. Students can select one or more areas from the four specified areas to create their solutions. These areas are improving or monitoring users’ health condition, assisting users in maintaining positive mental wellness, promoting the development of medical technology and cultivating positive living habits. Once the specified area has been selected, each team has to illustrate the current situation and problems, then how AI can be used to solve the matters. The Minecraft Education Edition requires participants to design and present the strategies / solutions using Minecraft: Education Edition, and optionally to add Microsoft Azure AI APIs. The AI Application Design requires participants to design a prototype made with at least one Microsoft Azure AI capability embedded to demonstrate the strategies / solutions.
Master Code 2021 will be open for registration in late June, and there will be a series of activities, such as Minecraft workshop and AI Application Design workshop, for teachers and students. The registration will close on October 22, and the deadline for accepting entries is 6 pm on November 2. Finalists will be required to give a 10-minute presentation about their proposals to the judging panel in late October 2021, and the award ceremony will take place in December.
For details of Master Code 2021, please visit: https://www.edcity.hk/coding/en/
Appendix: Winners of Master Code 2020
Champions
| Division | School | Title of Entry |
| Primary School Division – Minecraft Education Edition | St. Anthony’s School | Zero Hunger Farm |
| Project Highlights: In this Minecraft Education Edition entry, the designated zone is composed of 12 constructions. There are a few of auto-planting and auto-feeding systems, powered by the Redstone circuit and MakeCode programme, and the Minecart system and Item Sorters will distribute food to different areas. There are also facilities with Machine Learning AI elements. 1. Modernised restaurant and smart ordering machine: Powered by Redstone circuit instead of manpower, reduce risk of spreading disease. Besides, they employed the Face API of the Microsoft Cognitive Services to identify users’ age and gender, so as to calculate suitable food portions. This could reduce food wastage. 2. Smart food storage: Employed the same technology to identify users’ face ID for security purposes. 3. Smart protective cover: Employed MakeCode for programming, the robot Agent will automatically build glass curtain walls to prevent pests from reaching the farm. | ||
| Secondary School Division – Minecraft Education Edition | Tung Chung Catholic School (Secondary Section) | Unlimited Design: AI Farm Assistant |
| Project Highlights: In their Minecraft Education Edition entry, their design is separated into 4 zones, one of the zones have Machine Learning AI elements. 1. International Food Exchange: Employed the Face API of Microsoft Cognitive Services, users’ face ID can be recognised so as to change the trading currency. Users could also use Speech Synthesis of Speech Recognition to communicate with each other. 2. Smart Greenhouse Farm: Employed MakeCode for programming, vertical farms are efficiently built using mods in the Builder. They also use the robot Agent to automatically plant crops, and use the Redstone circuit for yielding. 3. Large-scale water filtration and storage system: Employed MakeCode for programming, the robot Agent demonstrated how to clean rubbishes in rivers. 4. Automatic Crop Storage: With the Redstone Circuit and Minecart system, crops are collected, stored and distributed automatically. | ||
| Secondary School Division – AI Application Design | Carmel Divine Grace Foundation Secondary School | Bug Food Matter |
| Project Highlights: Employed the Microsoft PowerApps to build applications, including 2 major functions, one of the functions includes Machine Learning AI elements 1. Use AI Builder and the Machine Learning method to analyse 3 kinds of pests: including Locust, Sciaridae and Aphid. This allows farmers to effectively identify pests and seek suitable solutions to tackle it. 2. Employed the Power Virtual Agents to build a chatbot, which responds to users’ questions with pre-set conditions, and provides related information of pests for users. | ||
First Runner-Up :
| Division | School | Title of Entry |
| Primary School Division – Minecraft Education Edition | Dr. Catherine F. Woo Memorial School | Hunger Terminator |
| Project Highlights: They built a zone in Minecraft, that could tackle food shortage through Redstone circuit and AI Demonstration, the facilities include: 1. Use Face API of Microsoft Cognitive Services to distribute food. 2. Use MakeCode for programming, build greenhouse and vertical farms through Builders, efficiently increase crop yield. 3. Use MakeCode for programming, plant crops by robot Agent and reduce repetitive work of farmers. | ||
| Secondary School Division – Minecraft Education Edition | HKSYC & IA Wong Tai Shan Memorial College | Zero Carbon Oasis |
| Project Highlights: They took Dubai as their theme and build a zone in Minecraft, demonstrating how to promote tourism, at the same time achieve a sustainable self-sufficient crop yield. There are 7 major facilities in the zone, most of them employed the Redstone circuit and Command Blocks to achieve their goal. | ||
| Secondary School Division – AI Application Design | Our Lady of the Rosary College | AI Pests Detector |
| Project Highlights: Inspired by the Microsoft AI Builder in a workshop, the team designed an AI automatic pests detector. The detector will release sound that imitates ultra-sound waves when pests are detected, so as to protect the crops. This team is the only one who can provide a hardware entry. Their entry employed micro:bit and DFRobot MUSKYLENS mods, and demonstrated their idea by showing how AI recognises 3 specific photos of pests. | ||
Second Runner-Up :
| Division | School | Title of Entry |
| Primary School Division – Minecraft Education Edition | SKH Kei Hin Primary School | New Yemen |
| Project Highlights: The team took Yemen as their theme and demonstrated how they assist that place to tackle food shortage in Minecraft. They build 14 facilities in Minecraft world, including: 1. Building farmland on water by the Redstone Circuit, increasing land for farming. 2. Fertilizer machine powered by Redstone Circuit, reducing repetitive work of farmers 3. Introducing the Great tit model and using the Redstone Circuit to power the Great tit to flap its wings, so as to drive out pests. | ||
| Secondary School Division – Minecraft Education Edition | HKSYC & IA Wong Tai Shan Memorial College | Self-Sufficient Village |
| Project Highlights: They use an African village as their theme and build a greenhouse farm in Minecraft, with food distribution, storage centre and rain collection facilities, demonstrating how to turn the village into an oasis in the desert. There is also a 3-floor education building which teaches farming knowledge and promotes reducing wastage. | ||
| Secondary School Division – AI Application Design | Bishop Hall Jubilee School | Don’t Waste Food |
| Project Highlights: The team used App Inventor 2 to design a mobile application to encourage users to reduce food wastage. There are 5 major functions of the application and 2 of them involved AI technology. 1. They use Microsoft Power Virtual Agents to build a chatbot, which provides waste reduction information and facilitates food donation. 2. They use AI Builder to identify types and amounts of food, to show users whether they are preparing too much food which may potentially lead to wastage. | ||
Notes to the Editors
Please download high-resolution photos here.
Photo Descriptions
Photo 1: Prize-giving guests include Mr Victor Cheng, Executive Director, Hong Kong Education City (Left 5), Ms Serena Cheung, Director, Public Sector Group (PSG), Microsoft Hong Kong (Right 5), Prof Yeung Yam, Principal Investigator, CUHK Jockey Club AI for the Future Project (Middle), Ms Law Tik, Senior Service Manager (Charity Services), St. James’ Settlement (Left 2), Ms Esther Ng, Acting Assistant Education Manager, Oxfam Hong Kong (Left 1) and representatives of supporting organisations and strategic partners shared the joy of the winning teams and witnessed the launch of ‘Master Code 2021: Reimagine Health and Wellbeing with AI’.
Photo 2: Mr Victor Cheng, Executive Director, Hong Kong Education City (Left 3), Ms Serena Cheung, Director, Public Sector Group (PSG), Microsoft Hong Kong (Left 4) and representatives of supporting organisations and strategic partners officially launched ‘Master Code 2021: Reimagine Health and Wellbeing with AI’.
Photo 3: St. Anthony’s School, the Champion of the Minecraft Education Edition – Primary School Division, builds a Zero Hunger Farm, which replaces manpower with kiosk machine in order to reduce the risk of disease transmission. Also, they utilised Face API for facial recognition to calculate food portion based on the user’s age and gender.
Photo 4: Tung Chung Catholic School (Secondary Section), the Champion of the Minecraft Education Edition – Secondary School Division, features an ‘ Unlimited Design: AI Farm Assistant ‘. Within the farm, there is an International Food Exchange, where facial recognition is used to regulate currency exchange. Together with voice recognition, it helps users from around the world to overcome language barriers and facilitate fair food trade.
Photo 5: Carmel Divine Grace Foundation Secondary School , the Champion of the AI Application Design – Secondary School Division, develops ‘Bug Food Matter’, which leverages machine learning to analyse pests. It allows farmers identify pests, then come up with solutions.
About Hong Kong Education City
Hong Kong Education City (EdCity) provides a one-stop professional education portal (EdCity.hk) with information, resources, interactive communities and online services. With the vision of ‘Actualising Future Ready Education’, EdCity continuously develops and introduces new services in the last 20 years, and endeavours to promote and support all schools in Hong Kong to adopt eLearning and innovative education.
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