From left to right: CUHK-Shenzhen sophomore undergraduates Li Zhilin (SME), Wang Shaoyu (SSE) and Liu Jie (SSE) won the Smart City Datathon championship 

Photo via Liang Weirong, HKET

Team Cat Eye Siblings, composed of CUHK-Shenzhen students Li Zhilin from the School of Management and Economics (SME), Wang Shaoyu and Liu Jie from the School of Science and Engineering (SSE), won the championship with outstanding performance in the 2018 Smart City Datathon and won a prize of HK$50,000. The second prize went to the Zhejiang University team, while the third prize was awarded to The University of Hong Kong team.

Students from 23 prestigeous universities in Asia participated in this competition, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Zhejiang University, National Taiwan University, National University of Singapore and Hanyang University.

In 2017, the CUHK-Shenzhen team, which competed for the first time, won the honorary award. 

2018 Smart City Datathon winners and judges

Photo via Liang Weirong, HKET

Smart City Datathon was initiated by the Asian Institute of Supply Chains & Logistics (AISCL) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students from top Asian universities are welcome to participate in the Datathon. The competition also encourages players from different professional backgrounds to team up for the competition. During the 36-hour Datathon, participants are required to develop innovative models, services and systems according to the provided aviation data including flight schedule, flight status and airport information to create values for the city. Providing a platform for interaction and mutual learning, the Datathon is an excellent opportunity for elites in the region to unleash their talents such as analytic skills, conflict resolution, time management, public speech and creativity.

Words from Cat Eye Siblings

Wang Shaoyu

Class of 2021, SSE & Shaw College

Computer Science and Engineering

High school: Hengshui High School, Hebei Province

Actually, I took the Datathon in a relaxed mood. Many participants are graduate students or seniors. The final victory of our team is especially owing to the advice and help given by the senior students of CUHK-Shenzhen. Compared with the result or the bonus of the competition, I feel that the connections between me and my teammates and participants from other teams are something that I cherish more.

Liu Jie

Class of 2021, SSE & Shaw College

Applied Mathematics

High School: Jinhua No.1 Middle School, Zhejiang Province

Actually, I just wanted to have a try. I never expected that I could make it to the finals, not to mention breaking the record of the senior CUHK-Shenzhen students to win the championship. During the Datathon, I was exposed to a lot of things I had never experienced before. When I talked to my teammates and some of the best students from other universities, I learned a lot of new and creative ideas, which is the biggest gain for me. All three of us are sophomores. Compared with the seniors or even graduate students from other universities, we don't have much advantage. From this experience, I deeply realized that academic qualifications and majors will bring great advantages to a person, but not a victory. I hope that everyone will not be restricted by their age and major. We can do more than we think!

Li Zhilin

Class of 2021, SME & Shaw College

Global Supply Chain and Logistics Management

High School: Fuyang Middle School, Zhejiang Province

During the 36-hour Datathon, we need to extract and analyze the information from nearly 20G of data, find out the problems and give solutions, and show them in the form of reports. Some teams are preparing in only one place, sleeping with their self-contained sleeping bags (but in fact many do not sleep very much). Constant high-speed thinking and the pressure of strong opponents are great challenges to our body and mind. In addition, this Datathon uses real data, which allows us to truly see the combination of technology and reality. We have met many outstanding students from all over the world and this is an invaluable experience.