The Award Presentation Ceremony of the Esri Young Scholars Award (YSA) was successfully held at the InnoCentre, Kowloon Tong on June 30, 2025. Professor Hon. Wong Kam Fai, MH, Legislative Council Member, Associate Dean (External Affairs) of the Faculty of Engineering and Professor in the Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), graced the event as the Guest of Honor. In his opening address, Prof. Hon. Wong expressed appreciation for the innovative applications of GIS in solving real-world problems and commended the creative use of GIS technology.

This year the champion of the Esri YSA 2025 is Mr. Tong Lai Yiu, a student from the Land Surveying and Geo-informatics Department within the Faculty of Construction and Environment at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His winning project “Assessing Rooftop Solar Energy Potentials in Hong Kong”, demonstrated a geospatial approach to harnessing solar energy from rooftops in the city.  For more insight into Mr. Tong's innovative GIS application, please view his ArcGIS StoryMaps Presentation here. 

The Esri Young Scholars Award originally launched in 2012 and introduced to Hong Kong in 2017, recognizes outstanding accomplishments in geospatial sciences by undergraduate and graduate students from tertiary sectors.  The Esri YSA champion will be awarded a trip to participate in the Esri User Conference in San Diego, California, where they can showcase their winning GIS applications to the professional world.

The full result announcement of Esri YSA 2025 has been made available online, please click here to explore the other award-winning ArcGIS StoryMaps. 

Professor Hon. Wong Kam Fai, MH, Legislative Council Member, the Guest of Honor of Award Presentation Ceremony of the Esri Young Scholars Award, gave the opening address at the ceremony. 

Mr. Tong Lai Yiu, the champion of the Esri YSA 2025 from the Land Surveying and Geo-informatics Department, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, shared the award-winning ArcGIS StoryMaps at the ceremony. 

The Guest of Honor, Professor Hon. Wong Kam Fai, MH, Legislative Council Member (front row fourth from the left) and Sr Professor Paul Tsui (front row third from the left), Chief Executive Officer, Esri China (Hong Kong) shared a joyful moment with the awardees of the Esri Young Scholars Award 2025. 

Dr. Kenneth Tang (first from the left), Adjunct Associate Professor of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, the University of Hong Kong, gave congratulations to his fellow students.

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