More than 190 secondary schools and university teams from 27 countries and regions entered PolyU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Student Challenge (GSC) to promote their innovative business plan and two American teams got the gold award, the Hong Kong organizer said on Friday.

After the final competition held on Thursday, the gold award of the university division went to the team from Purdue University, US. Their RollOut Green plan aims to provide lawn owners the ability to create a beautiful flower garden by three simple steps: lay, cover, and water.

As for the secondary school division, Iolani School, U.S. snatched the gold award with their idea of cooling bracelet.

Organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), the GSC offers an experience for students who aspire to become successful entrepreneurs and provides opportunities to turn their ideas into innovative products or services.

The contest also aims to offer students valuable business insights through interacting directly with the panel of judges who are renowned entrepreneurs, business executives and professors from Hong Kong and overseas.

In view of the growing importance of corporate social responsibility in the business community and the emergence of social enterprises, a sub-theme of Corporate Social Responsibility / Social Enterprise was added this year along with Health and Wellness, Lifestyle and Environment & Sustainability. Participants have an option of choosing to work on their business proposals under any of, or none of the four sub-themes.

The participants'business proposals are judged on four criteria: innovation and creativity, technical soundness, organizational plan and management structure, and projection of financial performance. The teams have also been judged during their presentation performance by their effectiveness of delivery, time management and Q&A session.

This is the second time PolyU has held the competition. PolyU vice president Judy Tsui was pleased that Hong Kong teams advanced to the GSC Final for the first time.

Among such three Hong Kong teams , a PolyU team got silver and theme award (Environment & Sustainability) of the university division with their R-Water plan which aims to effectively purify wastewater.

PolyU President Professor Timothy W. Tong extended a warm welcome to the participants, many of them are visiting Hong Kong for the first time to join the GSC. The participants had ample opportunities interacting with their peers through an array of activities such as Tai-chi experience.