Educational entrepreneur steams ahead

While many students face uncertainty when they graduate, Alex Leung, Co-founder and CEO of Turned-E! Education Limited, went into entrepreneurialism at full steam. "I was living with my co-founder James Lam, as roommates in our final year at HKUST. We decided that promoting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) in education was a match made in heaven,” Alex says.

While cooking meals and discussing ideas in hall, they leveraged on Alex’s experience as a STEAM education coordinator, and his observation that many schools in Hong Kong had a high demand for comprehensive STEAM education syllabuses. “That moment was a total eureka for us, and we very quickly shared the idea with engineering and business professors. Two days later, we received an email from the HKUST Entrepreneurship Center inviting us to discuss their concept,” Alex says.

Turned-E! Education Limited entered HKSTP’s Incubation Programme, and now provides STEAM-related content services to more than 100 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens in Hong Kong, as well as more than 20 public, private and non-profit organizations.

The entrepreneurial journey

Alex and James invited two other HKUST engineering alumni, Vincent Wong, and Alexander Lam, to join management, and the company now has a team of ten full-time employees. The team has released its proprietary SEMTRON micro-electronic edu-tech solution, tailored to the needs of students in grades K to 12, while addressing the demand for more guidelines and comprehensive syllabuses for educators. They also provide a comprehensive micro-electronic learning experience for students through in-house designed learning kit, online programming learning platform, and a six-level FPGA certification course.

 “We value creativity and encourage everyone to contribute ideas, every team member has unique insights and perspectives that can lead to innovative solutions. The goal is to cultivate students' interest in STEAM education and create a pipeline of talented individuals with expertise in FPGA chip technology,” says Alex.

While this looks like a smooth sailing, there have been obstacles along the way. “We have faced challenges since founding in 2019, and experienced changes in partners and employees, as not everyone agreed with the mission to develop SEMTRON education in Hong Kong,” Alex says.

Adapt or die

The team have changed their business model four times, to meet the challenges of the Hong Kong market, but remain passionate and optimistic in their STEAM work in Hong Kong. “We believe there is a global trend towards equipping students with the skills and knowledge to adapt to today's society's economic, scientific, and technological advancement through interdisciplinary knowledge and practical skills,” says Alex.

Sharing their love of ‘Maker’ culture learnt at HKUST is a big goal, along with developing a robust education platform in East Asia, and becoming a unicorn in microelectronic education. When asked what ambitious young students should do, Alex says look right at home. “If you are thinking entrepreneurialism, HKUST has a wealth of resources and knowledge and expertise of professors,” he says.