PolyU Summer Institute 2025: A Transformative Design Experience

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design welcomed 38 talented high school students from 35 schools across 9 countries to the PolyU Summer Institute 2025, held from 21 to 25 July 2025. This immersive programme, led by Mr Man To Yiu, Associate Professor of Practice and Dr Paul Lo, Teaching Fellow, offered participants a vibrant opportunity to experience life as a design student, fostering creativity, empathy, and teamwork through hands-on activities. Special thanks to our student assistants and JoBaMa (group fathers/ mothers) for their invaluable support in making this programme a success.

"To Be Someone" Design Empathy Workshop

From 21 to 25 July 2025, all 38 participants engaged in the "To Be Someone" design empathy workshop. Using empathy toolkits at the Material Resource Centre, students worked in teams to adopt diverse personas through group reflection and empathy mapping. While some students experienced the toolkits, others observed, identifying challenges and difficulties faced, which informed group discussions to define design challenges. This process led to ideation, brainstorming, and prototyping sessions, where teams collaborated to craft and present innovative, user-centred design solutions, honing their skills to design with purpose and compassion.

Company Visit: Worksheet Studio

On 24 July 2025, 19 students visited Worksheet Studio, founded by our esteemed alums Carr Yeung and Jade Wong in 2015. Worksheet Studio focusses on regenerating community fibrous waste into valuable resources through material recycling. Collaborating with material scientists, engineers, manufacturers, NGOs, universities, and laboratories, the studio creates a holistic system for material R&D, waste collection, design, production, and public education. During the visit, students explored sustainable design by creating paper blocks from recycled paper pulp, gaining hands-on experience in eco-conscious design practices. The tour highlighted paper recycling, micro-factory systems, applications of recycled materials, and the studio’s social impact initiatives.

About PolyU Summer Institute 2025

Organised by the Global Engagement Office, it is designed for Secondary 4 and Secondary 5 students, or equivalent, to have an immersive university experience at our campus and in Hong Kong. The whole event consists of 5 days, 4 nights Residential Camp, or together with an add-on program of a credit-bearing course.

Get Involved

The PolyU Summer Institute 2025 inspired a diverse cohort of aspiring designers through empathy and sustainability. PolyU Design welcomes further opportunity exploration and collaborations to take creativity to the next level. Contact us at sdmktg@polyu.edu.hk!