HKUST EMBA graduate Cindy Chen is a cofounder and CEO of a telecom company that started a decade ago. In 2010, after her company had already established four research facilities and ten branches in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan and the US, she was keen to learn more about what it would take to make her company more international. She was also keen to improve its vision and corporate social responsibilities. (CSR) That was when Ms Chen decided to take an EMBA program at HKUST.
In addition to the global business perspective and innovative management skills that she learned from the program, Ms Chen has also met many other successful entrepreneurs that share the same hobbies and vison. Even after graduation, she remained closely connected with HKUST, so much so that last year, she teamed up with four EMBA alumni to form her second startup.
Commitment to CSR
Their startup is called iPinto Technology. Its first product is a smart cup, which was inspired by the team’s love of hiking and their experience on a trip to Tibet, where fresh drinking water was not conveniently accessible. They developed a cup that could remind busy city dwellers to drink enough water in a day and stay healthy. Success has come quickly as the smart cup has already won the 2015 Red Dot Design Award, one of the three major international product design awards.
“The smart cup is designed to prompt users to drink water regularly while also recording their habits through an app that can be used to monitor their hydration and engage on social media platform,” said Ms Chen. “Collecting and applying data is one of the keys to improving user’s health.”
Ms Chen says it is important that a company can show care for the wider community, and when designing a new product it should give extra attention to the needs of consumers and be combined with a “human touch”.
Next, ipinto plans to launch a smart medicine container with features that can remind people, especially the elderly, to take medication as prescribed. The company intends to use technology to introduce products that can help the community, which reflects its ongoing commitment to CSR.
A Program that Encourages Innovation, Entrepreneurship and CSR
According to Professor Xu Yan, Academic Director of the HKUST EMBA Programe, “Innovation, Entrepreneurship and CSR” are three of the major elements, among others, that his program strongly promotes. He says the program has enhanced those elements by, for example, introducing modules like “Innovation Management” and arranging overseas study trips to Silicon Valley. These learning activities aim to nurture students’ innovation and creativity.
Ms Chen and her teammates want to make use of their expertise to contribute to a better community. They plan to set up an entrepreneurship fund to help others (including HKUST students) make their startup dream come true.
Cindy Chen spoke about her venture story and learning experience on the HKUST campus with the press. Read more at SCMP, HKET, WWP, Sing Tao Daily, and Ming Pao.